832. On the passing of State Representative Darryl T. Owens

My friend Darryl T. Owens passed away yesterday after a long illness.  He was 84.  For many years he represented me in the General Assembly as the 43rd District State Representative.  He had previously served as a member of the Jefferson Fiscal Court for "C" District.  I've known Darryl for thirty-eight years and supported him in nearly every one of his elections, the exception being when he ran for Mayor of Louisville in 1985.

Darryl is mentioned in more than a dozen posts here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River at Milepost 606. You can search his name in bar at the top left of the blog and go read about our various interactions.  He was a firm yet fair person willing to do almost anything for anybody, especially if it meant taking on authorities.  He loved addressing inequalities and working to solve them.

Among the entries herein is one dated March 2, 2013, where I have posted an address I made to the Kentucky Democratic Party State Central Executive Committee on a number of topics, one of which mentioned the work of Rep. Owens.  I have copied the pertinent paragraphs below.  I've also included a link to his bio on the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights website.  It tells much more than I can say in one post.

Here is part of my speech to the KDP SCEC:

On a different matter, and in the other house of the General Assembly, I am also concerned and dissatisfied.  Two days ago, the Kentucky House, in the name of religious freedom, passed a law which subverts the gains Kentucky and a few - very few - of its local communities have made with regard to civil rights protections for lesbians, gays, and others.  In the name of religious freedom, which I would call religious preference, something forbidden by the United States Constitution, our House passed a law by an overwhelming vote – seven Democrats voting no and the balance of the Chamber in favor – which could strip away discrimination protections in the name of religious freedom.

Two attempts were made by my representative in the House, Darryl Owens, to amend the bill, one passed and one was not called for a vote - both in the name of protecting the gains made in civil rights over the years, and especially in the cities of Vicco, Covington, Lexington, and Louisville.

Each of these bills now head to the other Chamber where both will likely be passed. Each bill needs work and if passed as written I would hope Governor Beshear would give the General Assembly more time to think through their votes by vetoing these horrible pieces of legislation.

Here is the link for the KCHR website for Rep. Owens bio:  Biography of Darryl T. Owens

Darryl leaves a large legacy of work behind and will be missed.  Please keep his wife Brenda and their family in your thoughts.  Rest in Peace and Power, my friend.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 5, 2022.

831. Republicans and their crayons

 

There's not a lot to say here.  The GOP has full control of Kentucky's legislative and congressional redistricting for the first time in history.  They've controlled the senatorial redistricting since 2000, so the two parties have been agreeing not to screw each other too badly for the last two redistricting efforts.  Prior to that, back to 1964, the Democrats had had full control.  Needless to say, paybacks are hell.  

One friend, Clayton Brown, commented that a drive along I-64 from Lexington to Louisville would take you through five of the six congressional districts, from the 6th to the 1st to the 4th to 2nd to the 3rd.  The 1st is the interesting one.  It begins down on the banks of the Mississippi River in Fulton County, about 300 miles to the southwest and runs to Franklin County and the Forks of Elkhorn Creek.

Redistricting is one of my favorite subjects and I may have more to say at another time.  First we need to get the crayons away from the Republicans.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 4, 2022.

830. What's in a Zero?

The New Year should necessarily involve making new choices, taking new chances.  

Most of you all know my drink of choice other than Red Wine - Ale-8-One.  I've been drinking Ale-8-One since some time in 1978.  Here's a paragraph taken from a post made on this blog on December 2, 2007, after a drive out in the the commonwealth:

"Ky 169 leads to KY 33, which is South Main Street in Versailles, the county seat of Woodford County. I was anticipating stopping at a little corner market in Versailles which for years has boasted an Ale-8 vending machine, 12 ounces for 50 cents or 75 cents of the Kentucky based soda in little green bottles.

The vending machine has stood in a small nook of that building for as long as I can remember. It was there last year when I attended the funeral services for my aunt Margaret Collins, the former governor's mother-in-law. This I know since I stopped and bought a bottle. But, upon arriving in downtown Versailles, the little green bottle vendor was gone. Utter dismay."

So there I was a few days ago, New Year's Eve to be exact, in the soft drink aisle of the Lower Brownsboro Kroger, pondering both a purchase of my beloved soft drink as well as the pounds I had added over the holidays and it was at that point I spied the "Ale-8-Zero" six pack of bottles.  And for the first time since 1978, I chose something other than the Ale-8-One.  I picked up the six bottles of Ale-8-Zero in the Christmas packaging - maybe it was Holiday packaging - and decided to check it out.

As of today, a few minutes ago, I've finished the sixth of the six bottles.  However, I had decided by the second bottle on New Year's Day that this new product wasn't all that bad.  Actually it isn't a new product.  Rather, it's an eighteen year old product recently rebranded with a new name.  Diet Ale-8-One was introduced in 2003.  I've avoided it for eighteen years.  It was rebranded as Ale-8-Zero on February 2, 2021 and took me just under eleven months to pick up a six-pack.

On New Year's Day, on the Ale-8-One Facebook page, I made the following comment about their diet soda:

After drinking Ale-8-One religiously since 1978, yesterday I bought a six-pack of Ale-8-Zero. It's 97% better than I was expecting and 98% as good as the original. I have some decisions to make in 2022.  

It really is pretty good.  I think I'm going to stick with it.  I'm completely surprised.

  

Also, Happy Tenth Day of Christmas!

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 3, 2022.

829. January's New Moon

The first New Moon of 2022 arrives very shortly, at 1:34 p.m. EST.  New Moons hold power according to some, especially the power of renewal, appropriate for the second day of a new year.

So, light a candle, make a list, start a ritual, start anew.  It's time.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 2, 2022.

828. 2022 - A New Year. Hopefully a new commitment.

Happy New Year's Day! New Year's Day, for most of us, tends to fall in the middle of the actual year in our minds, which in the U. S. of A. runs from about Labor Day to about July 4th (or honestly, to about the next Labor Day).

Over the millennia, different cultures have begun the year at what would now be considered "days other than New Year's Day." Most of those celebrations are tied to a New Moon, a Full Moon, an Equinox, or a Solstice. Later religions created their own holidays and Holy Days around those same days. Thus we get the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah tied to the Passover which is related to both a New Moon and an Equinox. Christians mark our most important day, Easter, by the first Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox. And the Bible tells us that the death and resurrection of Christ happened during the week of the Jewish Passover. So there's potentially a double calculation involved, which then requires church synods to "set the date" for the Resurrection much as they did for Christmas.

Nations have created their own laws as to when the New Year begins although January 1st has come to be accepted as the most universal date. Until 1752, the British Empire used March 25 as the beginning of the New Year, which seems like an arbitrary date. Some earlier Roman kingdoms used the birthday of the Emperor Caesar Augustus, the great ruler during the times of the Pax Romana, which coincided with much of the life of Christ, as New Year's Day. Emperor Augustus was born on September 23, a singularly important day in my life, and one often associated with the Autumnal Equinox.

As my regular readers know, this page marks the Full Moons as well as the Equinoxes and Solstices. Full Moons are a monthly occurrence and the words "moon" and "month" ultimately derive from the same linguistic root, -me-, meaning "to measure." Other words in that family of words include meter, dimension, meal, menopause, Monday, commensurate, and the musical metronome.

Pictured is the calendar for this year's Full Moons, the first of which will mark another important date in my family, my brother's 60th Birthday.

Happy 2022.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 1, 2022.

827. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod - no, Lauren, Junior, Ted, and Andrew

Last week was a series of misfires for at least four American politicians. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, R-CO3, and a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, featured herself posing in front of a small arsenal of guns, was quoted saying we weren't "meant to rewrite parts of the Constitution" somehow forgetting the Second Amendment is, in fact, an amendment - a rewrite.

Then there's Donald Trump, Jr., who, while trying to defend one Texas politician during the Texas ice storm and energy debacle, misidentified another, implying the governor of Texas, Greg Abbot, is a Democrat. Rest assured, Junior, he isn't and we wouldn't have the incompetent fool on our side. Maybe Junior needs to study up on his list of governors. Presently among America's governors, among the states 23 are Democrats and 27 are Republicans. Among the territories, three are Democrats and one is a Republican. The Puerto Rican governor's party, while not a part of the Democratic Party, is affiliated with it.

The Texas politician Junior was trying to defend was the Canadian Cuban Senator Rafael "Ted" Cruz, who can now add Cancun to the list of descriptors ahead of his name. While Texas was frozen due to the ineptitude of its political system with regard to energy regulation, frozen to the point of people dying, Ted and his family decided to skip town and cross the border (and then some) for some "fiesta y siesta" in sunny Cancun, Mexico. The escapade was quickly brought to the attention of most of America and, with the exception of diehard Trumpers, frowned upon. Cruz has changed the details of his trip twice but is making up for it with a lengthy set of photo ops of him carrying bottles of water and boxes of sandwiches in well-staged events across Texas, coming to the rescue of the people he was elected to serve, long after President Biden had declared an Emergency at the request of Governor Abbott, and long after rescue and support efforts were well underway by his 2018 opponent, Beto O'Rourke, as well as over $4M of support being raised by Congresswoman AOC, of The Bronx, NY, while he was south of the border. Cruz is a very poor excuse of a public servant.

Finally, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has been one of the Democratic darlings of the Covid-19 pandemic, has lost his lustre over allegations concerning both the lack of proper reporting of nursing home deaths during the pandemic and some systemic racism in the vaccine delivery since vaccinations have begun. Both the FBI and the U. S. Attorney's Office are reportedly looking in on Cuomo's actions. People have forgotten that Cuomo, who most assuredly won on his father's name, came under attack in his 2018 Primary from actress and activist Cynthia Nixon as being the "Corporate Candidate." In a 09/10/2018 post on my page, just ahead of the Primary, I mentioned that while I didn't expect Nixon to win, that she was hoping to bring out new voters, voters she had been appealing to from the Left side of the Democratic Party.

Let's hope this week is better for everyone.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, February 21, 2021.

826. McConnellian.

Linda Blackford, writing in the Lexington Herald-Leader, uses the word McConnellian, writing

"McConnell's vote to acquit, shortly followed by a fiery speech denouncing Trump is McConnellian hypocrisy, coming right after his next best in saying he couldn't convict Trump after his presidency was over when he delayed the trial until his presidency was over.  That's a lot of contorting."

What a great adjective. Until now, there hasn't been a good word to fully describe the betrayal of Mitch McConnell to Kentucky, the memory of Henry Clay, the U. S. Senate, and the United States. Now we have one.  It occurs to me that "McConnellian" sounds remarkably like "Machiavellian." 

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, February 14, 2021.

825. The Wolf Moon: January's Full Moon, 2021, in Lower Clifton Heights

The snow is still falling here in Lower Clifton Heights*. There are about 2.5 inches of the fallen flakes on my deck. The snow will eventually come to an end in a few hours and when it does we're in for even more magic in the wintry firmament.

To borrow a few lines from Clement Clarke Moore, "The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below." That luster will be from the first Full Moon of 2021, cresting tomorrow afternoon at 2:16 p.m., but go out tonight and see the wonder!

It's the Wolf Moon, the most appropriate night of the year to Howl at the Moon!

(* - Lower Clifton Heights. I live in a neighborhood called Clifton Heights, named for the hills above the Clifton neighborhood along Frankfort Avenue and overlooking the Muddy Fork of Beargrass Creek and in the distance, the Ohio River. But I live at the foot of the hill. Leaving from where I live is uphill in any direction, albeit to the west or east not a terribly hard incline but to the north or south, the grade is quite steep, including the driveway of our condos leading back to our carports. Thus I've decided to christen our little section of town, which lies along "Lower" Brownsboro Road, as Lower Clifton Heights.)

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 27, 2021.

824. Another "Antifa" Terrorist and Traitor to America caught in Nashville

Another one of those "Antifa" people, Eric Gavelek Munchel, 30, was arrested this afternoon and booked into a Nashville jail about two hours ago. This is the "Antifa" guy with the zip-ties, allegedly carried to tie people up so they could later be taken to the gallows that had been erected on the Capitol's South Lawn to be hung.

Those of you who continually try to dismiss this aggression against our Capitol as an expression of First Amendment Free Speech are ignoring what is clear to nearly every public safety agency not just in America, but around the world. Those who were in the Capitol illegally, however they gained entry, had as a goal, the overthrow of the United States Government and the murders of Vice President Pence and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others. The woman who was shot, being celebrated as a martyr by the right, was breaking and entering and had been warned by the police to back away from the door. She disregarded a command from an officer of the law and continued her aggression. She is not a martyr. She died as a criminal and should be posthumously charged.

As I said in a post on Wednesday, and as is becoming very clear, the Trump Campaign assuredly, and possibly several Republican members of Congress, and perhaps the Republican National Committee, coordinated the efforts at the overthrow of America. In a separate post, I suggested that cameras in the Capitol, of which I can tell you there are many, coupled with all the videos posted to Facebook and Instagram, will allow most, if not all, of these terrorists to be caught, arrested, and prosecuted by Federal authorities.

There is much talk about the one single "John Sullivan," an Antifa guy on the inside, who "led the insurrection." Those of you Trump supporters who are pinning your hopes on that single person are going to be greatly and gravely disappointed. He, too, will find his actions captured by the myriad cameras in the hallways of Congress. We'll know what his role was. This was not Antifa. This was the traitor Donald Trump and his family and his campaign attempting to overthrow the government.

Eventually, Trump will be charged with sedition, irrespective of whether he is impeached or removed under the 25th Amendment. Between now and the 20th, all Americans, all across the Republic, need to be fully aware of their surroundings. Trump and his supporters are planning another coup for Inauguration Day. This time the newly re-formed Capitol Police, the District of Columbia Police, the National Guards of the District of Columbia, the States of Maryland and New York, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, all will be prepared to mete justice to any attempts at insurrection and sedition.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 10, 2021.

823. It's going to be a great week in America! Happy 2021.

 

38-3-51

100.305, 321.39, 323.10, 323.12, 323.13

35 Pa. CS 7301 (b).

You might ask, "What are these cites?"

Let me begin by saying starting next week, when the Kentucky General Assembly convenes, the veto-proof Republican-controlled legislature will be taking up 39A.100, which is the equivalent cite in the Kentucky statutes that the above numbers are in the Georgia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania codes respectively.

They are all cites to state laws approved by their state legislatures granting governors (and in some cases other elected officials) broad (sometimes undefined) extensive authority in times of peril or pandemic. These are the times we are in.

We've been hearing our president (and many of the few supporters he has left) making the argument that the laws under which most of the states conducted their elections, because they were different, amended or altered in their operations by the governors or the officials in charge of elections, somehow nullifies the elections themselves because those laws were not approved by the legislatures themselves.

The stupidity in this argument, and stupid is a word I rarely use but it is most applicable here, is that I am able to cite to Georgia Code 38-3-51; Wisconsin Statutes 100.305, 321.39, 323.10, 323.12, and 323.13; and Chapter 35 of the Pennsylvania Code of Statutes, Section 7301(b), all passed by members elected into the legislatures of the respective states, just as KRS 39A.100 was codified into our Kentucky laws after being passed in last year's General Assembly, all of these granting the authority that the uninformed president and his uninformed supporters say doesn't exist.

Now that the GOP has complete control of the Kentucky General Assembly, and given we have a Democratic governor, they will likely reverse many of the laws they passed in 2020. Republican legislators clearly lack logic.

But lacking even more logic than Republicans in the Kentucky General Assembly is the president and his supporters who make the argument, stupidly, that laws do not exist which allowed the states to conduct last year's elections in the fashion they were conducted.

Fools like Congressman Louie Gohmert, Senator Ted Cruz, and Gov. Ron DeSantis should be tried for sedition, if not treason, against the Republic based on the United States Constitution and cites such as the Georgia Code 38-3-51; Wisconsin Statutes 100.305, 321.39, 323.10, 323.12, and 323.13; and Chapter 35 of the Pennsylvania Code of Statutes, Section 7301(b).

Next week is going to be a great week in America. The Republican Party is going to be seen as the anti-American, anti-Constitution, anti-Rule of Law, anti-Voter, and anti-Election fanatic cult it truly is.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 2, 2021.

822. The First Sunday of Advent, 2020 - the waiting begins, in church and in America

The liturgical season of Advent, a part of the church calendar in many (but not all) denominations, begins todays.  It is a period of waiting.  Waiting, being watchful, and preparing for the birth of Christ on Christmas Day.

As this Advent season begins, America is in its own period of waiting.  Waiting on this interlude between effective presidencies, the current thus far unwilling to concede a clear loss, the clearly successful challenger moving on, preparing for his oath-taking on January 20. 

As to this American advent, the arrival of "Christmas," in this case Inauguration Day, cannot come soon enough, as the current office holder continues day-after-day to issue useless, meaningless, but in some cases harmful statements, knowing the media (on both sides) as well as his followers and those who oppose him are hanging on his every word.  He thrives on the attention.

I've decided we need to stop responding to his every dictum (which, admittedly, is very hard for me to do).  He is the lamest of lame ducks, having lost the popular vote twice (the only president to ever do so) and will be losing the vote of the Electoral College in two weeks.

In a little over seven weeks (and maybe sooner), he'll be a former president and America will move on from him and all of his criminal sycophants and misguided supporters, saving those serving in the Congress.  

Over the next four years, the best thing that could happen for the Democratic Party, whether the party moves left, center, or right, is for Donald Trump to remain the centerpiece and clear leader of the GOP.  He is not just another arrow in the quiver for the Democrats, but the best and most poisonous they possess.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, November 29, 2020.

821. Rudy Strikes Out

The president's third attempt to steal Pennsylvania hit another setback with the judge's stinging rebuke. So far he's attempted to steal Nevada, Georgia twice (with another attempt in the works by the governor there), and Michigan, the latter of which included wining and dining two GOP legislators in an effort to get them to rewrite Michigan law between now and the day the Electoral College is set to vote.

His continued attempted-rigging of the election by baseless court actions to overturn the election and overthrow the votes of a republic is both funny and sad. Funny in that he and his team are so thoroughly incompetent at it; sad in that many Republicans, including most in the houses of Congress, are sitting idly by while the most basic right of the American people, that to elect their leaders, is being jeopardized and bastardized by the highest leaders of their party.

There are lots of reasons I've been a Democrat since first registering to vote in 1978. The actions of nearly the entire Republican Party in this November's election make clear that even as a seventeen-year-old, I made the correct decision.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, November 21, 2020.

820. Smartmatic Machines; Trump's mental instability; Trump's supporters leaning toward treason

Here's the interesting thing about the Smartmatic Voting Machines that allegedly changed votes from Trump to Biden. According to Trump and his gang of lawyers, this only happened in states where Trump lost. These machines are used in 28 states, several where Trump won. Amazingly, the machines worked perfectly there. Only where Trump lost did the machines seem to have problems.

None of those states which Trump won had any problems? Really? None of the states which Biden won big had any problems? Really? All of the problems just happened to occur in the states with close counts. That's an amazing coincidence, almost too amazing to believe. To quote President-elect Biden, "Come on, man."

Here's the bottom line: The president is mentally unstable and may be a danger to himself and certainly to the Republic. Those who support him are accessories to whatever may befall him medically and professionally and are adding to the potential fall of the American Republic, which is akin to treason.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, November 17, 2020.

Between 819 and 820. I intend to start blogging again.

I haven't regularly blogged in a while and it is my intent to do so again.  It may take me a minute to get back in the habit.  I haven't posted a picture in years - literally years.  But, we'll see what happens.  Stay with me.  Thanks.

819. Mary Margaret Mulvihill, Rest In Peace

Mary Margaret Mulvihill passed away the day before yesterday. She is someone who I've known of all my adult life although we haven't always been political friends. I did not know her the first time she ran for elective office, but in her next four races, I did not support her.

I first heard her name in the 35th LD elections of 1976, a three-way contest between her, the incumbent Ernestine Roach, and my uncle, Don Noble. I was 15 years old at the time. Ernestine, who lived in the subdivision behind my high school, won that race. As a note, Uncle Don died in 2005 and Ernestine died seven years ago today. That LD election began my involvement in City of Louisville politics as a "Stansbury Democrat" and put me on opposite sides with Mary Margaret.

My first long conversation with her was in April 1984, on another 35th LD election day, a race she won, in her dining room in North Audubon. She made me precinct captain of H-121 - the old 17-4, my precinct in Camp Taylor. I also came to be friends with her husband, Eamon, an Irishman who came to America in the early 1960s, who passed away in 2015.

Over a long period of time, I came to understand Mary Margaret's role in the formation of TARC, the social justice politics of Louisville and Kentucky, and the stern and effective way she served both in and out of public office, never ever stopping. When I decided to run for 35th LD Chair in 2000, despite a sometimes rocky relationship, I asked her to run with me as my Vice-Chair. (I remember going to Bellarmine's Knights Hall where she was attending a "B" District Commissioner debate with Dolores Delahanty and making this ask. It wasn't easy and she didn't make it any easier, but she did accept and with that acceptance brought together, at least in the 35th, two long-running factions of Louisville's Democratic Party under one tent.) We won that race over two other tickets, both of whom dropped out of the race before the election was held.

In the last twenty years, Mary Margaret has kept up her hard work in every way possible ultimately seeing the election of her son, Patrick, as Councilman in the 10th District, which overlays a large part of the 35th House District. I've mostly interacted with her in recent years through Patrick. Knowing Patrick since his days as a Little Leaguer at Germantown, I've supported him in his races for office, even when some around me haven't. While I haven't been in a district where I could vote for him, I do have property there and he has had a sign on my property in each of his elections. I know Mary Margaret is very proud of his accomplishments.

Mary Margaret has long been part of a group of leaders in Louisville - her, Suzy Post, and earlier this month Sue Speed - that is slowly passing from us and their work and devotion will be deeply missed in the future. May she Rest in Peace. ✝️

818. The Winter Solstice, 2019

When the sun sets tonight, it will end the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

Here in Louisville, sunset will occur at 5:25 p.m. I have four friends vacationing in Key West (Ken, Josh, Bobby, Javier (and I wish I was with them)) and for them the day won't end until 5:43 p.m. My friends in Washington, D.C. can witness the sunset at 4:49 p.m. For a friend I am truly missing who lives in LA, sunset over the Pacific, a wondrous sight, occurs at 4:48 p.m.

Later this evening, at 11:19 p.m. EST, 8:19 PST, our Earth will cross a cardinal point on its annual journey drawing to a close these shortened days marking the Winter Solstice and with it ending autumn and beginning winter. With winter, new light and life slowly reveal themselves back into our world as the days lengthen leading to trees budding and gardens flowering.

Happy Solstice.

817. The Hunter's Moon, 2019

The Hunter's Full Moon arrives tomorrow afternoon at 5:08 p.m. EDT so tonight's view will be great. The moon is currently about 250,000 miles away from the Earth, about as far as it gets. Its furthest measured distance away is 252,622 miles (so far).

The full moon tonight is accompanied by the chance for a frost across nearly all of Kentucky and much of southern Indiana, reminding me of James Whitcomb Riley's poem, "When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock." Go outside and enjoy the lunacy.

Moonrise at the intersection of Dickinson Road and Davis Mill Road, near Trenton, Todd County, Kentucky, this evening, October 12, 2019. Photo by Wayne Addison II. Trenton is in the southwestern part of Todd County, which is in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth.

816. In response to the president refusing to cooperate with the House Impeachment Committees . . . .

Who cares?

The appropriate response to the White House is "Who Cares?" The House doesn't need the White House's permission to proceed, to consider, to investigate, or to vote. Apparently the president has never read the part of the Constitution related to impeachment and its highly likely that Rudy Giuliani hasn't either. Article I, Section II, Clause 5 is very clear on that point. Very clear.

But all this push back makes you wonder. If the call to Ukraine was so "perfect," then what's the problem? If the (12 minute) transcript of the (30 minute) call is all there is then what's the problem? How many of you, being innocent of an accused crime, wouldn't work like hell to get your story out in the news while under oath to clear your name?

Eventually it will all come out, all of his dealings with Putin and the Russian and Ukrainian mob long before he got into politics, long before he decided he needed money to bail out his failed New Jersey casinos, and long before he built not one but two Trump Towers - beautiful towers, no doubt - in Turkey, the leaders of which are no doubt wonderful people with whom to do business, even in times of war.

815. Mayday, mayday! It's a National Emergency!

Jeff Noble

 

I'm enjoying the glee with which my "conservative" friends are celebrating the president's declaration of a National Emergency to spend billions of dollars that he first promised Mexico would pay for and then couldn't get the Congress, including members of his own party, to buy into. So he's declaring a National Emergency to build his wall, something I told my friend Paul Schmidt I fully expected him to do when he didn't get his way with Mexico or the Congress. This will be the fourth National Emergency he's declared. We're presently living under 28 others besides his three, 12 of Obama's, 13 of W's, and some dating back as far as the Carter presidency. 

Under such an "Emergency," there are some 123 statutory powers the president can use to address the "Emergency." The one distinguishing difference between all 31 of the current "Emergencies" and this new one the president is proposing is none of them spend any money which hasn't already been appropriated by the Congress, something required by the United States Constitution - see Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1 of America's Bible on that matter. The president's plan is to expand Executive powers and usurp the fiduciary authority of the Congress by spending money which hasn't been duly appropriated. Hell, we don't even have it.

Under the current "conservative" president, tax revenues are flat, spending is up 9.6%, the deficit has risen 41%, and the National Debt has grown by $2,000,000,000,000.00. That has to be a "conservative" record. So while my "conservative" friends are celebrating this "conservative" victory, the smart thing for the Democrats to do is back off and let him do it.

There will come a day that a National Emergency will arise over climate change or gun violence or our crumbling infrastructure or the opioid crisis, the latter two something the president has promised to address but hasn't, and as long as there is a Democrat in the White House it won't matter if Mitch is still the Majority Leader. We'll have President Trump's precedent of expanding Executive Powers and usurping the fiduciary authority of Congress as established by this current "National Emergency." We should let him do exactly what he wants to do which, to be honest, is one more brick in the wall of destroying both the United States Constitution and the Republic in general.

And the "conservatives" rejoice at this destruction.

814. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposes first conservative fiscal policy in decades to the Congress

By 1981, America had built an interstate system across most of America, we had created a GI bill that allowed a lot of men and later women to go to college and then buy their first homes, and we had sent several men to the Moon and returned them home safely, and we had done all of it while keeping the national debt under One Trillion Dollars, and a Debt-to-GNP at one of its lowest points since the Great Depression. We were the envy of the world and rightly so. When Ronald Reagan described us as the "city shining on the hill," he had every right to do so.

Unfortunately, by that time, he had already set in motion the downfall of America, the fiscal course we're still following. Reagan began, and every one of his successors in office have followed, a series of lowering taxes, Let me point out here that the largest the federal government has ever been ever was under President Reagan. Please, go look it up. A few presidents, including Reagan, also raised taxes. In fact, Reagan raised taxes more than any other president in my lifetime. Please, go look that up too. But overall, Reagan and all of the presidents who have followed him in office have lowered the federal taxes that Americans paid and the end result is we are no longer the "city shining on the hill." We have crumbling bridges and highways. Veterans can hardly get a room at the VA, much less a decent loan to go to college or buy a home. And the debt, which tripled under Reagan, doubled under W, doubled again under Obama, and had added over $2T since Trump took office seems out of reach of ever being paid off. Does that mean we should just say "It'll never be paid off so why worry about it?"

That seems to have been the attitude of almost everyone for a long time although if you know me, I am not among that group of people and never have been. I believe Americans owe it to America to pay off the debt which was created by the governments they voted into office which created it. We are a republican form of government so to say "the debt isn't mine" is to essentially say, "I'm a shirker and screw my creditors." That's what we've been doing as a Republic since Reagan first allowed the national debt to almost triple. One final note on when this all began, back in 1981. At the time, the highest tax bracket for someone "Married Filing Jointly" and making "$215,400.00" was 70% on everything over that amount. 70%. 70% on everything over $215,400.00. In today's dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that would be $595,007.01. (I can only think of maybe four or five of my readers that this might possibly apply to).

Today's news and a lot of Facebook posts have been filled with that 70% number. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents New York's 14th Congressional District, today proposed a 70% Tax Rate on the nation's wealthiest people to begin addressing the debt and paying for other programs. Imagine that, a member of Congress responsible enough to suggest we find a way to 1) get out of debt and 2) actually pay for what we spend with our own money. (I'll note here that she is a cum laude graduate of Boston University majoring in International Relations and minoring in Economics). But let me repeat my last line - "Imagine that, a member of Congress responsible enough to suggest we find a way to 1) get out of debt and 2) actually pay for what we spend with our own money." You would think that such a policy would have conservatives jumping for joy. Finally a level-headed fiscal policy coming out of the mouth of a Washington politician. Spending our own money instead of borrowing it from China. What a novel idea.

Instead, conservative, Republicans, old white men, and, frankly, a lot of Democrats are up in arms at "such a crazy idea." They're calling her a socialist. She claims to be a Democratic-Socialist which is something altogether different but most of these people don't care about the difference and are too educationally lazy to find out what it is. We finally have someone in Congress who wants to address the economic woes of the Republic, woes wholly created before she arrived (which was yesterday), and the world goes mad.

Here's a thought. She's 29. She'll be 30 in October of this year. Her generation and the one following will have to live and pay the debt created by the three generations of American politicians who preceded her. And who is yelling foul the most? Those same people. Those same exact people. Either they are for fiscal management or they aren't. Since we are $21,000,000,000,000.00 in debt under their watch, it is clear where they stand.

Good work, Congresswoman. Finally a voice of reason.

813. An Open Letter to My Fellow Democrats on Marijuana

2019 General Assembly - Hemp - Marijuana

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Friends --

The voters of Kentucky made one thing clear in November.  The Pension Crisis wasn't enough to turn out Republican legislators at the ballot box.  While the entire nation had a good night for Democrats, we in Kentucky quite honestly only did so in very few places.  For that we should be thrilled as we are sending some excellent new folks to the General Assembly, new blood, new ideas, new perspectives.  But we're already behind after this foolish Special Session.  The main reason given by GOP members in the House for its failure was the differences in this bill from that of SB151 in the 2018 Regular Session.  Jerry Miller and his pals will be back with SB151 as soon as they are able in the upcoming session.  Do we have a plan or are we just opposed to theirs?  The governor has moved money into the pensions by cutting services elsewhere and raising taxes which mostly affect working class people. If we are going to counter that, we had better have a plan that isn't just opposition to theirs and provides some stream of revenue that can be directed to the pensions.

As all of you know, a generation ago, Gatewood Galbraith started a movement to legalize hemp and marijuana in Kentucky. I voted for Gatewood twice, in 1983 for Ag Commissioner against David Boswell and again in 1991 against Brereton Jones for governor.  He ran last in both primaries but I'm still proud of those votes.  Gatewood's movement has finally come to fruition all these years later.  The problem for us is the Republicans, for the moment, own the matter.  Senator Mitch McConnell got himself onto the committee writing the final farm bill for the sole purpose of inserting hemp language and then made sure it got passed in Washington. When the president signed the bill two days ago, before the close of business on that same day, Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles submitted the necessary paperwork to the federal Department of Agriculture (USDA), which the bill requires, for Kentucky to begin its program.  He already had the program in place waiting for the president's signature, making Kentucky the first state in the Republic to apply for USDA approval of its hemp program.

My point?  The Democrats in the General Assembly and those running for governor, and any other leaders of the State Democratic Party, better get on board quickly, as in by the end of the year and certainly by the gaveling in of the new Session, on this issue and push the envelope much further, to full legalization.  We're not winning with the Pension issue.  But we can if we have a revenue stream.  We can if we have an issue.  Right now the GOP owns the hemp issue.  McConnell created it just as he did the Tobacco Buyout Program in 2004 cementing the votes and support of tobacco planters and sellers throughout the Commonwealth. We cannot wait or McConnell and Quarles will completely own this issue by January.  Hemp is here.  Recreational marijuana is not.  

A lawyer friend of mine originally from Shelbyville offered me this quote earlier today.  He said, "I can see this Fancy Farm line: "You're right Governor, marijuana is illegal today.  And you're also right that I wouldn't want my child to use it today.  But I'll tell you what.  I'd rather be high on an illegal substance than have a first term mired by illegal bills, low approval ratings, and no substance."  If we want to capture the imagination and votes of both younger Kentuckians for whom this is a no-brainer and older Kentuckians who may see this as an alternative to expensive medicine, push the envelope.  Hemp is here and Trump, McConnell, and Quarles own the issue.  Recreational marijuana, properly controlled and taxed, is out there on the horizon waiting for Kentucky Democrats to reach out and make it theirs.  Don't wait. 

Jeff Noble

Kentucky Democratic Party State Central Executive Committee 

At-Large member