283. Wendell Ford Dinner in Louisville tomorrow

Back on February 18, 1971, I wrapped up a week of being a legislative page in the Kentucky Senate, working for State Senators Tom Mobley of Louisville and Carroll Hubbard of Murray. I was 10 years old. It was my second time paging, the first time much earlier for State Representative Tommy Riddle, who at the time was a Democrat but has since switched parties because he thought the Democrats were big spenders. I wonder how he feels about big borrowers. Maybe he is ready to switch again. But, I digress.

On that February 18, which was a Thursday, later in the day my grandmother took me down to the Lieutenant Governor's Office, then held by Wendell Ford. Later that year, Ford would move around the hallway to the Big Office by defeating Tom Emberton of Metcalfe County. Emberton had been a part of the Louie B. Nunn administration as a bureaucrat in the Public Service Commission, while Ford served those four years as Lieutenant Governor. Emberton would later be appointed as a judge by Wallace Wilkinson, one of my favorite characters from Kentucky's political past, and someone who was a friend. Ford, on the other hand, went on to the United States Senate, taking office in 1974 by defeating former Jefferson County Judge Marlow Cook. Cook was the incumbent Senator and did something that would be unheard of today. Cook, a Republican, resigned a month early, to allow Ford, a Democrat, to take office early and get a jump on seniority. It was a grand and noble gesture on Senator Cook's part.

Ford went on to serve longer in that office than any other person, although if Addison Mitchell McConnell, Jr. gets re-elected this fall, he will best Ford's record. The only person, to my knowledge, to serve longer in Kentucky politics was for Lieutenant Governor (and former several-other-things) Thelma L. Stovall, originally from Munfordsville, but mostly a resident of Louisville.

Anyway, the point I was heading toward was an announcement. Every year the Louisville-Jefferson County Democratic Party has as its chief fundraiser a Dinner in honor of the former State Senator - Lieutenant Governor - Governor - and United States Senator Wendell Hampton Ford. That dinner is tomorrow night, the 29th of February, at the Executive Inn on Phillips Lane at the Airport in Louisville. Tickets are $125.00 at the door. We have already sold a total of about 50 tables according to the Party Secretary Joyce Compton, who has done more work than should be allowed for a number of years on this event. This year's speakers are Governor Steve Beshear and Congressman John Yarmuth.

A good time should be had by all.

282. Thoughts on a Snowy Tuesday night in February

First, some inside stuff to Moderate Man -- To spend capital, one must first have it. Your comment is ironic to say the least - commenting on the Louisville Urban Services District's lack of capital by calling on His Honor to spend some of his own to raise it. If there is any left, after nineteen years of spending very little if any, he may have fallen prone to a problem my forty-seven year old erstwhile muscles have - if you don't use them, you lose them. Lack of any expension of capital over the years has in and of itself depleted any available should the need arise - as is has now.

But, while that is a problem you and I must live through, at least until 2011 and more likely until 2015, it is not one we can solve with just words. There is a line in the play My Fair Lady, in a song, "Words, words, words, I'm so sick of words." Hillary Clinton used part of the line this week, saying that doing things, as she claims to have done 35 years more of than her opponent, is more important than saying them, even if in a grand oratorical style with thousands looking on. And although set in London, England, the song in the play leads to the Missouri saying of "Show me!" We have had a great deal of words and wordplay serving - or disgusied - as government for many years here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. It is not by words, but by works that we will succeed. John of Patmos wrote in the Bible in the Book of Revelation at Chapter 2, Verse 19, "I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last [to be] more than the first."

To the work then.

On a different note, I have just a few minutes ago came in from driving through downtown Louisville. There is a light snow - a rather magical snow, a little heavier than mist, through which the city's glimmers are shining. It is quite easy to look at. The temperature is 30 degrees, which is near perfect for snowfall. The roads don't freeze until it is below 28 because of the brining, and the snow wont quite stick. Earlier in the day, I complained (much to my own surprise) of the cold weather we can't seem to shake. What was I thinking?

281. Good News

First, State Representative Harry Moberly, a Democrat from Richmond who is the Democratic point man on budget matters, gets it. Good news. He is proposing tax increases here and there. One is a cigarette tax; another is an increase in corporate taxes; thirdly, some revenue enhancements in the indivudual tax code. Mr. Speaker Jody Richards says Moberly's plan is doable - at least in the House.

There are lots of ways for Moberly to go. They've been cutting taxes and exempting classes of folks for thirty years. Finally, at least there is acknowledgment that change is needed. Of couse the Senate end of the building is controlled by people who live in the fantasy land that "no government is good government," led by State Senator David Williams of P. O. Box 666 in Burkesville in Cumberland County (while his wife lives over in Russell County, which is not a part of his senate district). Senator Williams will direct the Republicans in the Senate (and probably a few of the Democrats) to vote against any of the proposals sent down by the House.

It is the intention of the Republicans to get people used to idea that Democrats are "tax and spend" types - as opposed to Republicans who are "borrow and spend" types. And, unfortunately, in the short run, he will probably succeed, which will eventually lead to the shutdowns of various parts of state government. I'm not sure when that will happen, but when it does, I am hopeful the KDP will buy some TV time and show pictures of when the Federal government was shut down under the Republican controlled United States House of Representatives, replete with pictures of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich being morphed into the current State Senate President David Williams. It is going to be a long and winding process and it will not be without some suffering on the parts of most every Kentuckian. And while Senator Williams and his Republicans (along with some Democrats) will be largely responsible, anyone who calls upon their legislators to "cut taxes" is also part of the problem.

Onto some better news. Here in Louisville, two items have crossed the newswires of interest to immigrants and those who believe that America should heed the words carved on the base of the Statue of Liberty about taking in those in need.

First, a storefront church in the Iroquois Manor Shopping Center on S. 3rd Street is offering free meals in this area which is heavily populated by immigrants from as many as 27 different countries. The Iglesia Cristiana He Visto La Luz , which translated means I Have Seen The Light Christian Church, serves the meals on Fridays from 12 noon to 2:00 pm. This is what is meant by doing God's work; not all the face-time a lot of politicians put in because they are giving away your tax dollars on their pet projects.

The other good news came from the Muhammad Ali Center yesterday where 195 formely non-Americans became Americans, including one, Jose Valdez, who has already served two tours of duty for what is now his country. Anyone who ever has the chance to witness one of these Swearing-Ins will never again take for granted the importance of being an American.

Thanks Be To God.

280. Random plans for a Trip

I trekked [mapped] out on Google-Maps today the path I would take driving to Denver, Colorado if I am to go later this summer for the Democratic National Convention. Not as a delegate is my plan; rather I am angling to do some sort of staffing work if at all possible. Others of course will take to the friendly skies, but I prefer the open roads. Besides, I've never really driven much to the West at all - Fancy Farm, while a long ways off, really doesn't count. All of my driving travels outside the confines of the Commonwealth have generally been to the east, northeast, and southeast.

For such a trip west, I'd like to go by way of Springfield, Illinois on the way to revisit the Old State House, where both Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama launched their presidential campaigns, albeit several years apart.

I'd also like to go ot Omaha, Nebraska, where last year the University of Louisville Baseball team played in a collegiate world series of sorts. Both are along the way. On the return trip, I've got Wichita, Kansas on the journey, mostly because I've never been there. Another Springfield, this one in Missouri, is also scheduled. I have Hockensmith cousins there I've not seen in over twenty years, the children of my grandfather's younger brother William B. Hockensmith, of that city.

Saint Louis is a point both going and coming. I've been there many times and always like a return visit. And, unlike Louisville-Jefferson County Metro, they still have a City and a County, and the legislators in their city are called Aldermen, an office I wish we still had here in the Urban Services District of Louisville, along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606.

*****

I'm listening to Barack and Hillary. It sounds like another love-fest so far. Outside, we had ice earlier. Now we have "a wintry mix" whatever that means. Tomorrow comes the rain.

279. A little more Castro. Also, a little more a little closer to home.

My Cuban friend mentioned in the previous entry isn't all that enthused about Raoul Castro's ascension to power in his native state. He feels Raoul's military background under his older brother's regime will prove to be just as brutal if not moreso than Fidel's. He doesn't feel any change is anywhere near on the horizon just yet. That's a shame, but he would know more about it than me.

Closer to home, the political landscape is getting a little more interesting. I've written more than once than I felt Senator Hillary Clinton would ont only be the nominee but also the next president. The Junior Senator from Illinois is making that harder than anticipated. I've written before that I was for Clinton before I was for Obama before I was for Chris Dodd, who is no longer running. On one of the window sills in my office is a "Don't Tell Mama I'm For Obama" sticker. I suggested to one of my coworkers that one week it is up for everyone to view, while the next it is laying down. I'm still undecided although I do have a bumber sticker on my car for the current favored son of Hawai'i. There has to be something special about a candidate who draws the support of both former Congressman Romano L. Mazzoli and current Congressman John Yarmuth. They do not inhabit the same territory within the Party although both are from the idealist side of the Party. And the opinion of each of them makes an impression on me.

Even closer to home, there has been much consternation about Andrew Horne's aborted candidacy for the United Senate. A whole lot of people are upset about it including some in some very high places of power, at least here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. I am admittedly not one of those upset. But neither have I cast my lot with either of the two serious challengers, Bruce Lunsford or Greg Fischer, both millionaires from Louisville. And I am even more undecided in this race than I am in the one between Clinton and Obama. And again, the opinions expressed by several of my friends from the Yarmuth campaign are pushing in one direction rather than another. There is the old saw about "some of my friends are for you and some of my friends are against you and I am for my friends." Ah, the joys of loyalty.

Finally, our Kentucky General Assembly, a collection of 138 lawmakers now assembled at Frankfort are busy introducing legislation, making attempts to amend said legislation, but doing very little passing of same. Actually, they have passed exactly zero pieces of legislation, which, frankly, is probably better than it seems. Introductions: 769. Amendments: 190. Enactments: 0. [Acknowledgements to www.kentuckyvotes.org, a service of the Bluegrass Instutute, a copyright of USA Votes, Inc. for these statistics]. The session is more than half over. At some point, legislation will start getting passed and that is when we Kentuckians should start paying closer attention. One recalls the old joke that we might be better off if the General Assembly met for two days every sixty years rather than sixty days every two years. Unfortunately, due to one of those constitutional amendments I habitually vote against, they now meet every year, making Frankfort a most dangerous place not just biennially but annually. If nothing else, it makes for interesting entertainment for the school children making field trips to the Commonwealth's seat of government. I know I always enjoyed it.

That's all for now.

278. Castro

When I was in 7th grade, in Room 120 at Durrett High School, one of the first "big" papers I had to write was on Latin America. I wrote for pages and pages on the various governments up and down the land we call America, including a special section on Cuba. This was in 1972 or 1973, not so far removed from Castro's takeover of the government there just shortly before I was born 12 years earlier. Little did I know that many of the governments on which I had written were merely puppets of either the United States or the Soviet Union, or both.

Long-time readers will know that I've mentioned Cuba in previous posts, asking questions about the whereabouts of a statue of Jose Marti, a former leader of the island nation, whose statue once stood in Shively Park, but is there no more.

For the past 12 years, I have had the pleasure of a friendship with a Cuban refugee, one who I met shortly after his arrival here in the states aboard a raft, upon which he and two others had left the Castro regime. Put on a plane by the Catholic Refugee Services in southern Florida, he ended up in Louisville - loo-ese vee-ye - as he pronounced it at the time, thinking he was in Saint Louis, or sahn-loo-eee.

Since 1999, he has rented a little four room cottage from me, one in Camp Taylor in which I had lived for the previous twelve years, and there he remains today, through two or three girlfriends, one wife, three or four jobs, and a slew of friends.

He had often spoken of his Homeland, one he has not seen for over thirteen years, where his brothers and sisters, mother and grandmother, and his daughter, now a young lady of about 17 years old, remain, all hopeful that someday their family may be reunited.

My friend and his family are just one of many, many families in a like situation, all awaiting for the day that relations between Cuba and the United States are once again warm and friendly, as they were in the very beginning of Castro's reign of now fifty years.

The first step, a very small one, came in 2006 when Fidel Castro yielded over some of his power to his younger brother Raul, who is said to be just as ruthless at times as his older sibling. Another much larger step was taken today when Fidel announced, via the internet, he was stepping aside, ending his fifty year rule.

It will take many many more changes before relations between here and there will ever be anything close to normal. But, as with all journeys of a thousand miles, there is always that first important step.

For the sake of my friend and his family, and those of all the Cubans I've come to know, and all those I will never know, I am hopeful Castro's stepping down is the first step in the right direction.

Cuba Libre.

Here is a quote from Jose Marti, the former leader.

"One revolution is still necessary: the one that will not end with the rule of its leader. It will be the revolution against revolutions, the uprising of all peaceable individuals, who will become soldiers for once so that neither they nor anyone else will ever have to be a soldier again."

Another Trip to Frankfort, and a tale about The Standing Ovation

I was in Frankfort this past Thursday for some legislative business. As most of my five faithful readers know, Frankfort is one of my favorite little cities. Louisville, of course, is my favorite really-big-town, but that is fodder for a different feeding. Thursday while there I made two stops off my schedule of historic interest, but probably to no one but me, just to take a look around our Capital and our Commonwealth.

First, I parked for a moment in the Riverview Park, established in 1997, along Wilkinson Boulevard and looked westward across the Kentucky River to the eddy formed by the mouth of Benson Creek. It was at this point, this juncture of land and water, that the Virginia legislature and governor, Thomas Jefferson, chose to divide Kentucky County, Virginia into its three original divisions, Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties. From my vantage point, I could look out to the northwest, up the Bald Knob Pike past Bellepoint, and let my eyes wander out into what was originally a part of Jefferson County, Virginia. Looking westward and southwestward, the view is blocked by Buttimer's Hill, the rock of a mountain just west of the city above the old Taylor Avenue and divided from what is now called Louisville Hill by the foot of Devil's Hollow Road, which itself formed the original path out of the capital city to what would become in time Kentucky largest really-big-twon, Louisville. That vista made up a part of Lincoln County, Virginia. If I were to look back over my shoulder toward South Frankfort and the New Capital, that too was a part of the original Lincoln County. The point where I was standing, on the Right Bank of the Kentucky River near Milepost 66, was a part of Fayette County, Virginia, which at that point in time was the most populous county of the three, with a census of about 2500 people in all of the area from Frankfort southeast to Pineville, east to Ashland, and north to Carrollton and Covington. That was one of my stops, viewing the origins of our state, which over in what was once a part of Lincoln County, was currently hosting our House and Senate in General Assembly.

My second view was made from on top of the Capitol Parking Garage, the one with the loops on either end, where the floors are numbered from bottom to top in ascending order so that the highest numbered floor is the lowest in elevation. Don't ever drive the loops within 30 minutes of having dinner in the Annex Cafeteria. You will not make it out of the City Limits. But, I digress.

Looking eastward from this point, the vista is of a broad plain below and then up the side of the hill toward Georgetown - "out East Main" as they would say in Frankfort. A look to the northeast is Frankfort Cemetery, the subject of one of the first entries of this blog. Looking below, of course, is the Kentucky River, which on Thursaday was a murky thick brown color, like coffee with cream, which is not the way I like my coffee, or my rivers. The river was up too, though not in any flooding territories as I have seen it now and then over time, most extraordinarily in 1978 when I was a freshman at the University of Kentucky. Much of the view of the old city to the north is obstructed from here by the Governor's Mansion and Grounds. Turning around one could look between the Capital and the Annex and up Lafayette Drive toward Louisville.

I always enjoy my trips to Frankfort, whether they are for business or pleasure. In the past, I am sure many legislators would have made this same comment. I have heard so many over time, though, comment that it is not what it used to be. I first became acquainted with the Capital through my grandmother, who had reason to be there from time to time. Later on, in Junior High School, which today is called Middle School, I made trips to the KYA conventions sponsored by the State YMCA, which was then headed by a Mr. Journey, who is long-since gone. In those Jr-KYA and later in High School in Sr-KYA conventions, I learned the legislative process and became enamored with the entire community around it. Having lots and lots of family in the Capital city was certainly a plus. Still later, as a freshman in college, I served as an advisor for some Jr-KYA students from what was then called Morton Junior High, on Tates Creek Pike in Lexington. The now-Morton Middle School is one of the prettiest buildings in Lexington in my opinion. I served in that role under a math teacher there, Sheila Becker (later Sheila Vice). I had a great time.

But, as I said, the environment is different now, the habits are different now, and of course, the fiscal underpinning of state government, as well as all other levels of government, is not there. We are at the bottom of the barrel with no real help in sight, only band-aids. While I was visiting at the Capital Annex Cafeteria, I called State Representative Jim Wayne, a Democrat of Jefferwon County's 35th District, over to my lunch table, which I was sharing with Assistant Jefferson County Attorneys E. Patrick Mulvihill (who is a candidate for Distict Judge in the upcoming elections) and John (J. P.) Ward, a part-time prosecutor who is learning the legislative ropes. Jim told us of his latest adventure in Taxing Matters, a proposal he is pushing to establish an Alternative Minimum Tax structure for the state along the lines of that established by the IRS for the Republic as a whole. His plan would remove many lower-income tax payers from the system while simultaneously shifting the burden to those in higher tax brackets, especially those making $250,000.00 or more. It is a noble goal. And even though adoption of Representative Wayne's plan would be a step in the right direction, it is not nearly enough. Proposals like Representative Wayne's must be introduced and passed at all levels of government, bringing needed resources for the country as a whole out of the pockets of multi-national corporations and their respective CEOs and CFOs and into the General Funds in Washington, Frankfort, and really-big-towns like Louisville.

At a different level, last Wednesday night the Mayor of Louisville-Jefferson County Metro gave a speech at the Metro Democratic Club, an update of his previously-given State of the City address, an annual event at the Downtown Rotary Club. In his update, he talked about the financial crises the City is in as being attributable to the general downturn of the economy as a whole. I have had discussions with others who laid part of the blame at the feet of a City financial planner whose numbers were skewed by a one-time payment into the City's coffers which was accounted as recurring income. Another person has informed me it is her opinion, based on some reputable knowledge she has (and she is in a position to have such knowledge) that the City's budget shortfall isn't nearly as big as is being reported. What the Mayor never alluded to in his speech were any new costs of running the merged City and County governments as one, without any equalisation of the propety tax structure for those people outside the old City who receive only one tax bill a year, unlike those in the old City who still receive two. As more and more services are being extended outside the Louisville Urban Service District without a like increase in taxes outside the Louisville Urban Service District, it becomes obvious that more revenue should be coming in from those receiving these new services, receiving them without paying for them. Since the adoption of Merger, there has never been an External or Internal Auditting presented to the Metro Council which would show these discrepancies. Nor is there any current plan of the Mayor or of the Council to correct this flagrant oversight in the merged government. At the end of his speech, the Mayor received a standing ovation from many (61) of the 64 people in the room. Based on his failure to communicate anything on the tax-fairness question, I was one of the three who did not rise in the ovation. I didn't make a scene; I didn't do anything other than some appropriate applause given the stature of the office.

While at the Capital on Thursday, the threesome of Mulvihill, Ward, and myself, happened around a corner in the Annex and encountered the Mayor and a few of his aides-de-camp, one of whom pointed out to the Mayor that out of the 64 people present in the room, at least one did not make the Standing-O. The Mayor asked me to affirm this which I did, offering that I was busy doing something else. What I was busy doing was trying to figure out why this tax-fairness question is not being addressed given the fiscal shortcomings the Mayor and the City are facing.

The problem isn't original with the Mayor. It is endemic to politicians who are unwilling to say to a populace which wants services that someone has to pay for them. If a politician says they want to raise taxes, many of the folks whose taxes are not likely to be affected, as they are at the lower end of the economic spectrum, are usually those who shout the loudest. They are only hurting themselves and the politicans who give in to them should be held accountable for the dismal state of economics affairs in all levels of the government.

Will this ever happen? Yes, I believe it will. Maybe not this year or next year, but soon. And it will take a fifteen to thirty year cycle to get us back where we were, but it will be worth the wait for the generations to follow beyond that thirty year mark. And we should all be working in that direction.

276. Let It Snow. It is still winter.

You will recall my last entry ended with the weather-prognosticators proposing to their listeners that the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606 was in for some snow and ice. And this time they got it right. We are accustomed to hearing that the snow went "just to the north, along a line from Paoli to Salem to Madison," or "just to the south, hitting Brandenburg [which gets all the weather], Elizabethtown, and Bardstown." This time the snow dropped from the skies onto our little burg along the river, stacking up to between four and six inches. That was Monday night. Early Tuesday morning brought an inch of ice on top of the snow which made the 210' walk to the bus-stop interesting, as most of it was on top of the ice which was on top of the snow. [As an aside, I wrote several entries back about the proposal to remove my bus-stop. That proposal was dropped after some private-citizen agitation to both the TARC office and to City Hall. I appreciate the help of my councilmember, David Tandy, in that episode.] Later yesterday, as the temperatures edged above freezing, some of the ice and snow melted which made for a slush-filled afternoon. But then temperatures dipped back down into the 20s, where they remain today, so no melting is occurring. There is some fresh snow blowing about, but no additional accumulation is expected.

I like the snow. I always have. I remember the big snows of 1978 and 1994 - 16 or 17 inches worth. The one in 1994 closed down the city, the interstates, even UPS and the airport. Governor Jones took it on the chin for the conditions of Kentucky's various highways. Both snowfalls remind of me my brother, as they both fell on his birthday, respectively his 16th and 32nd. We were both still teenagers when the first one hit. The second time was a Sunday night/Monday night and my brother had "stopped by to visit" at my then-home in Camp Taylor. As I recall, he stayed aobut six weeks. The 1994 snow was complicated by an even heavier snow just a few days later, one of 22 inches, Louisville's deepest snow fall.

There were big snows when I was younger, but maybe they weren't as big as I recall because I was a lot smaller. I remember (barely) November, 1967 as a big snow. There was also a big snow in April, 1986 on Good Friday, if memory serves me. It didn't last, though. By the day after Easter that year, all traces were gone. I've seen it snow on Hallowe'en, and on Derby Day and Breeders' Cup Day. But it seems it doesn't snow nearly as much as it used to. Maybe that's the Global Warming lots of people talk about but no one wants to admit it is affecting the Ohio Valley's snow patterns. Or maybe I just like snow and wish we'd have more of it.

My mother says it is nice to look at as long as she doesn't have to get out in it. I still like getting out in it.

Unrelated, today is my Aunt Judy's birthday. She is the widow of my father's older brother, Uncle Don, who passed away in 2005. I called her this morning and wished her well. We talked politics for a minute, which isn't a big surprise.

Happy Birthday Aunt Judy.

275. Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better

Based on some emails I’ve received over the weekend, more than a few of my Democratic friends and all of my Republican friends are well to the right of me on the issue of new taxes, just as I know they are on immigration, and based on what a few of them said, maybe even the separation of church and state. The emails abovementioned all complained about my several entries recently calling for a rise in taxes, a rise to offset the thirty years of lowering them here and exempting folks from them there, although none of my correspondents mentioned the thirty year thing. A few mentioned that some of the slack in lower taxes which has led to social cuts have effectively been taken up by religious concerns, which then led to an exchange between us of whether or not those religious concerns were also on the government dole, taking monies for so-called faith-based initiatives, something I oppose. One even ventured to call me a Socialist. I responded to that one that a review of my political affiliation in the Secretary of State’s office would reveal that I am a Democrat. Deeper review in the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office would reveal that I’ve been a Democrat since I first registered to vote when I was 17 years old and I have not changed from that initial affiliation. But, I digress.

To make sure I got the message, a state legislator I was with last night at a social function, also complained to me about taxes being too high, explaining that he could not move to the neighborhood he desired because he couldn’t afford the property taxes. I just shrugged and took another sip of my sasparilla. And from there I went home and re-read the former Eric Blair’s little novella, Animal Farm, to reassure myself that while Socialism may be utopian and perhaps unattainable [Snowball], too many times other forms of government, whether Republics or Democracies on the one hand [Pilkington], and dictators and totalitarians on the other [Napoleon], are too often willing to play at being nice with each other for financial gain while simultaneously each offering to the other their own Ace of Spades, as if a deck of 52 cards would have more than one. And then I went to sleep with the intention of dreaming about Sugarcandy Mountain.

Unrelated, the Kroger Full Employment Support Group, aka the local television meteorologists, are calling for 2 to 4, or 4 to 6, or 6 to 12 inches of the white stuff sometime tonight and tomorrow here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606.

Thanks be to God.

274. Inattention to blogs; inattention to government

A month and a week have already passed in the new year - when did that happen and where did it go? Anyone who has been paying attention here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606 is aware I've been lax and inattentive in posting entries and adding new photos. Sooner or later I'll get caught up. But right now, it looks like later is the more likely timeframe for doing so.

I have been a little too busy for my own comfort. I haven't made but one or two trips out into our Commonwealth or over into southern Indiana, which is one short mile away from my home. Even trips to Frankfort, which are typically frequent, have been few, one for a funeral, the other for a party, both of which I've written of in the last few weeks. I know I'll be back up there a few more times in the next few weeks, including on the 1st of March for a meeting of the Kentucky Democratic Party State Central Executive Committee, where I will be proposing to the membership some changes in our State Party By-Laws as they affect Fayette and Jefferson counties. Other By-Law changes will be proposed by the By-Laws Committee affecting the other 118 counties in the Commonwealth. All of these changes have to do with the selection process for Democratic nominees in Special Elections. We've had several in the last few months and at least one more is on the horizon as State Representative Brandon Smith, the recent Republican victor in the 30th Senate race, will be vacating his House seat for a move to the other end of the Capital. The State Committee has been notified of these proposals, and again, they will be discussed at the March 1 meeting.

The night before that meeting, on Leap Year Day, will be the Wendell H. Ford Dinner of the Louisville-Jefferson County Democratic Party, an annual fundraiser for the local Party. The crowd is expected to be addressed by both our Congressman John Yarmuth as well as our Governor Steve Beshear. The messages will probably be a mixed bag - things seem to be improving in the Congress, while back in Kentucky, a downward slide budget-wise is the center of attention, especially in the General Assembly. As I've said in previous entries, until and unless we have across the board tax increases, we will be having fiscal problems for years to come.

Another political event coming up much sooner, this coming Wednesday night, will be an address by the Mayor of Louisville-Jefferson County Metro to the Metro Democratic Club - a repeat and perhaps update to the State of the City address he gave earlier this month. Several things have changed since the initial address, not the least of which is the fiscal standing of our local government. That meeting will be held at 6:30 Wednesday at the UAW Hall on Fern Valley Road in Okolona. Last Thursday night, Metro Council President Jim King addressed the All Wool and a Yard Wide Democratic Club on the Council's Budget Committee discussions, with the Council asking pointed questions about the $9,000,000.00 shortfall the administration has announced the Metro is facing. Councilman King is a successful CPA and banker and fortunately has greater insight into these matters than most of his colleagues and having him there to ask the hard questions and helping to find the honest and needed answers is a good thing.

As you can see, budget shortfalls are the common denominator tying together all levels of government. These shortfalls can be directly attributable to legislators on both sides of the aisle at all levels of governing during the last thirty years who have fallen prey to putting their respective reelections ahead of fiscal responsiblity. Grover Norquist and his minions are winning - they are shrinking the government down to nothing. They are true anarchists. Yet legislators continue to give tax breaks to any number of entities, and many politicians continue to call for tax cuts. We are well past the time when it should have ended - we are now in the transition period from a caring and succesful government of laws, not individuals, to one which is failing at every level - a failing Republic, failing states, and failing local governments. If people want new roads and highways, they are forced to have tolls. If people want better schools, they are forced to have bake sales and car washes. If people want anything, the responsibility has shifted to exactly where the right has wanted it all along - the individual. We have devolved into a government of individuals, where the common ties which bind us are overcome by individual greed, individual wants, and individual control. There is no connect between the ones among us and the many we once were. We are getting the government we wish to pay for and the the government we deserve for our selfish actions over time.

Some day - not soon - maybe twenty or thirty years from now, one of the New York Times Bestseller listed books will be The Rise and Fall of the American Republic. We have been writing the chapters for several decades - all that is left are the closing paragraphs. You need not wait to see the movie - if one of the things you demand in your elected officials is a pledge and delivery of No New Taxes, then you are one of the central characters of the story.

273. Errors, Omissions, and a whole lot more

Let me start with the “whole lot more” part of the entry, the weather, a favorite subject here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. Last night’s wasn’t good, neither here nor elsewhere in the Commonwealth and throughout the South. [A note here: Louisville doesn’t really claim to be in the South except during the Kentucky Derby Festival weeks in April and early May. We’ve carved out a niche in some fantasy-land, somewhere between the South and the Midwest, the delineating line being somewhere around the Watterson Expressway]. But, I digress.

Seven lives are known to have been lost here in Kentucky, in Muhlenberg and Allen counties, both south of Louisville - Allen down on the Tennessee state line. Elsewhere, in other states including our neighbors in Tennessee and Missouri, an additional fifteen lives were taken by a series of storms and tornadoes which passed through during the evening hours yesterday and into the early morning hours today. As I sat and listened to the Tornado Sirens for nearly an hour last night, the temperature rose from the mid-60s to right at 70 degrees, with the warm southerly winds intermingling in a deadly dance with the cooler Midwestern winds. It wasn’t as bad in Louisville last night as it was a week ago, but it was obvious damage was being done here and there. Some local schools are closed from lack of power; also, many roads in Jefferson and the surrounding counties are closed from downed trees and power lines. As those families who lost members last night begin to pick up the pieces today, it is well to keep them in our thoughts and in our prayers.

Weather wasn’t the only thing blowing Change into America last night. We had elections, 24 of them if you count American Samoa, which was won by Hillary Clinton.

Ok, now for the E&O part of the essay. I blew the call on Super Dooper Tuesday with my proclamation that by the end of the night United States Senator Hillary Clinton could begin her Fall campaign against United States Senator John McCain in her quest to become the 44th Commander-In-Chief of our Republic. It seems the race is still on, although she currently holds a slight lead in the delegate count, but neither she nor United States Senator Barack Obama are anywhere near the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination. Obama’s wins in the South, probably somewhat based on race, along with others in the Midwest and the Mountains, with those based on old-fashioned populism, are keeping him well in the race with his chief rival, who won the big states by winning the more traditional voters. As my five faithful readers know, like lots of Americans I’ve wavered back and forth, and at times away from, these two contenders, either one of whom I will gladly support this Fall, and both of whom have the tools necessary to defeat whoever emerges on the other side.

I haven’t said much about the Republican race, but it is clear that John McCain is rather certain to be the nominee for the GOP. Many in the GOP are unhappy with his ascension, but I believe come Election Day, they will come around to his side of the equation. And, after last night’s performance, it is clear that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, another populist, may have clinched a nomination of his own, but not one he was seeking or will admit to winning, that of the #2 spot on the GOP ticket this fall. I still think Hillary will be the Democratic nominee although that seems a little further from reach today moreso than yesterday. But again, it is my belief that on January 20, 2009, the day the Junta currently in control of the Nation’s Residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, is forced to vacate, it will be a family of Democrats who move in.

Political winds were shaking last night here in the Commonwealth as well, as three Special Elections were held, two of which went to the Democrats, both in the already-Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. But in the Republican Senate, where we really needed a win, we didn’t get it. The 30th Senate District, recently vacant due to the election of former Senator Dan Mongiardo as Lieutenant Governor, should have been a win for the Democrats. The selection of a candidate was mired in undue controversy, controversy mostly based upon objections filed by the person who didn’t get the nomination. But the nomination process was made According to Hoyle, following all the rules, including an appeal to the State Party, an appeal I was a part of. The eventual Democratic candidate was strongly supported by both the governor and the lieutenant governor (who formerly served the area), but to no avail. Brandon Smith, a Republican member of the House of Representatives won the seat, giving the GOP a 22-15-1 lead in the State Seante, and will vacate his House seat, maybe sometime today when the Secretary of State certifies the votes. The only good news in the scenario is that no Republican filed to claim Smith’s current seat in the House. There will however be yet another Special Election for that seat, to serve out the present term which runs through the end of this year, and it is one we need to preserve between now and then.

Finally, I spent the greater part of last night 55 miles up the road, ending up at a Grand Fete sponsored by the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government (as well as several Louisville-area corporate citizens) honoring with grand offers of food and libations the members of the General Assembly, currently in session in Frankfort. The event was held at the Thomas Clark Kentucky History Center on Broadway in downtown Frankfort. Before arriving there, I had visited some friends over in the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security, which makes its home in the Transportation Cabinet building, Kentucky’s homage to glass and metal set against the Fort Hill side of the city. Leaving the KOHS, I wandered over to one of my favorite Frankfort haunts, the Kentucky Coffeehouse where Eric the barista sold me a cup of strong hot coffee and I made my way toward the back of the coffee shop, whose walls are lined with old books and tomes offered for reading and for sale. The coffee shop is connected to the Poor Richard’s Bookstore, a Carmichael’s type of place on the south side of Broadway. I’ve written about both of these before. The section of books toward the back, where I usually take my seat, are Civil War histories, along with other older books, many out of print for many years.

I joined Assistant Jefferson County Attorney Patrick Mulvihill for the grand fete, a block to the east. Any thing you could have wanted to eat or drink was available – it was a very well catered event. I especially liked the crab ragoons, the roast beef, the seven kinds of dessert, the shrimp (big and a little spiced) – lots of stuff. I had one or two (or three or five) of most everything, all paid for by my local tax dollars at work. The room was addressed by the Chief Magistrates of the governments of both Louisville-Jefferson County Metro and the Commonwealth, each lavishing praise upon the other for their work, but each also acknowledging the budget shortfalls of their respective governments. The Mayor had earlier in the day announced an additional $9,000,000.00 shortfall locally, closing public swimming pools and taking away some city-owned car driving priveleges. Deleting the cars is minor – closing public pools is a major blow. Pools and the parks they are usually in are special places for Louisville’s teen and younger population in the Summer. The pools the mayor chose to close tend to be in minority areas of the City, minorities who otherwise often do not have the luxury of even a three foot above ground pool when the temperatures rise in July, August, and September.

In each of their speeches, the two leaders said we will make it through these crises and on to better days ahead. Each promised to do so within of the confines of their respective current revenue streams. Neither wants to be labeled as a tax-raiser. It is my opinion that neither is being entirely realistic.

This is the hard part of governing. Eventually there comes a time when one has to make the very hard decision to raise taxes. Eventually one has to decide if one wishes to be fiscally responsible or fiscally conservative. Some people believe those two phrases mean the same thing. In times of surpluses, they might. In times of deficits, they may. And then there are times they are totally unrelated. We are living in these latter times.

Being fiscally responsible when the cupboard is bare means to be fiscally responsive, taking actions which infuse the revenue stream with real dollars, not dollars offset here by reductions there. For thirty years, since the adoption on June 6, 1978 of Proposition 13 by the voters of California, our governments have slowly but certainly been whittling away, one tax cut at a time, one tax exemption at a time, one set of lay-offs at a time, one set of attrition deleting positions at a time, one set of building delays at a time, one set of job hiring freezes at a time, one set of summer swimming pool closings at a time. And all those incremental abatements of revenues are finally taking a real toll. We are at the end of the era where we can continue to lower taxes, to shrink government, to reduce spending. The latest example in Kentucky is a $17,000,000.00 proposal by Christian County Democratic Senator Joey Pendleton, a friend and good man, who represents among others the military folks at Fort Campbell, both active and retired. This is a proposal which is very well meant, very noble, and very honorable. It would exempt servicemembers from certain state tax obligations. In a time of surplus, this would be a no-brainer. Even in a time of tight budgets, this is something which should somehow – someway be worked into the process. But at a time when the state is $600,000,000.00 or so in debt just this year, with another $400,000,000.00 of debt expected in the next biennial, an additional $17,000,000.00 of debt is something which unfortunately we should not be able to afford. But, I fully expect Senator Pendleton’s measure to pass. And I do not dislike the purposes of the proposal. But, where does the spending stop? When do we spend only what we have? When do we become fiscally responsible?

You will hear conservatives, and some others, say we need to reduce taxes and spending, but they never say exactly where – exactly who it is they want to cut out of the government’s alleged largesse. The scapegoats these days are illegal immigrants (perhaps justly so), the latest in a series of wedge issues, but one which resonates better than many of the others. But, illegal immigrants are said to be about 12,000,000 in number (some of whom are paying taxes, social security, and medicare payments under a stolen or false social security number which they will never get back (and shouldn’t)); 12,000,000 out of the current estimated population of the country of 303,382,716, as of early this morning. That’s a little under 4% of the total, which if totally cut out is not enough to overcome the current federal debt of $9,222,200,545,365.53, again an estimate as of this morning. The current state debt is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The mayor spoke yesterday of local debt of over $9,000,000.00.

The folks who want to say that all of that is caused by payments to illegals are fooling themselves and their pocketbooks. They are looking for an easy out. When your country is $9 Trillion in debt, there is no easy out, and whatever is placed upon the backs of those here illegally is a mere drop in the proverbial bucket. Getting out of debt requires cutting spending, ending borrowing (and its cousin bonding), and raising taxes.

Doing anything less is being fiscally irresponsible. What politician would want to run on a ticket of fiscal irresponsibility?

272. Sorry, I've been busy

Happy Ground Hog Day. If any of Punxsutawney Phil's Kentucky cousins came out of their holes here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606 this morning, we should brace ourselves for six more weeks of something. I hesitate to say Winter because we haven't had much of that. We have had some scattered snow flurries, a few very cold nights, and a tornado or two (out of season), but we haven't had Winter. We haven't even had a good frost or heavy fog. It is beautiful and sunny here today with a temperature of 29 degrees, very close to Louisville's average temperature for this time of year.

I haven't been posting because, frankly, I've just been busy. I've had a few too many balls up in the air, many more than I can comfortably and effectively handle, which is usually about 1, or maybe 2. So the blog has taken a back seat to some other priorities for the moment, and probably will for a few days.

This being busy has meant I missed out on the Chris Theinemann news, the governor's budget address, the recent maturity and friendliness shown between Obama and Clinton, and McCain's apparent path toward clinching the Republican nomination, something which I think helps out whoever our eventual Democratic nominee is given that a number of Republicans dislike McCain, who, like Romney, has been here and there and everywhere on a number of issues over time, and has repeatedly been antoagonistic towards the Republican Party leadership. He is sort of like a Liebermann, except he is their Leibermann, not ours.

Expect light posting for a few more days, although I am sure that Super Tuesday will at least get me thinking about posting something. I expect Tuesday will bring most of the 2008 presidential campaign to an end, or rather a beginning, as I believe both parties will have a clear picture of who their nominees will be sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday, nominees I expect to be Clinton and McCain. I am sure if I am wrong, some one will let me know in no uncertain terms.

I will say this about the process. This presidential election has already been way too damn long, and the actual balloting is still nine months hence. I recently wrote about supporting SB3 moving Kentucky's primary date to later in the season, along with its filing date. I still strongly support that, along with its provision to do away with the gubernatiorial run-off. But, I understand an amendment has been added to the bill which would move Kentucky's presidential primary to the First Tuesday in February, Super-Dooper-Stupor Tuesday. This I oppose. All of the states that do not already have an early Primary should band together and set their date sometime later in the season, so as to have an impact. Moving Kentucky in amongst 22 other states and territories, including New York, California, and Illinois, makes no sense. We will become one of the "other states" which also had elections of that day. Adding this provision to that bill strongly lessens my support of it.

But, as they say, the legislative process is akin to making sausages, something I am told ain't pretty.

Tuesday is also Mardi Gras Day. Enjoy.

271. Correction to 270. Ackerson has a Primary

Somehow I missed Allison Pitzer, who filed against Brent without my knowledge - sneaky. Maybe a conspiracy. No, I just missed her. So, we have a Primary in 26.

270. Filing Deadline Day

Lunsford in for Senate; Lewis out for House. I think both of these developments bode well for Democratic victories this fall. On the Senate side, among the several candidates running, there is one thing we all know any of them would need to oppose the Minority Leader of the United States Senate - money. And while we know Greg Fischer has some, we don't know about his willingness to spend it. About Lunsford, we know there is a willingness based on past actions.

Ron Lewis, who some time ago broke his self-imposed term-limit, decided not to seek re-election in what should prove to be a year a lot of other Republicans will ultimately wish they had followed the Baptist-bookseller's path. The Democrats will likely nominate The Senator from Sorgho, David Boswell, who has spent time in both houses of Kentucky's General Assembly, as well as a term as Agriculture Commissioner. And, in all probability, Boswell will join John Yarmuth and Ben Chandler in the 111th Congress.

As for Yarmuth, he drew his likely Republican opponent today, former Congresswoman Anne Northup, who lost races in both 2006 and 2007. In 2007, she said she would rather be governor than congresswoman. Since that didn't work, I guess she changed her mind. Congressman Yarmuth should have no problem beating her a second time, and probably will do so more handily than he did the first time, given this is a presidential year, and the 3rd CD has voted Democrat for president since 1992. Northup has a primary though, one she should win over South End populist Chris Theinemann. They apparently aren't friends as they are already trading barbs. Maybe John can get in a round or two of golf before the general election commences in earnest.

Finally, my two candidates' campaigns for Council ended up as expected, Ken Herndon, a Democrat challenging the incumbent Democrat George Unseld in the 6th; and young Brent Ackerson, a newly registered Democrat against younger Graham Honaker, the Republican, in the 26th which is an open seat. And while both Brent and Graham are very young candidates, both in their early 30s, the baby of the council candidates appears to be Kungu Njuguna, an assistant Jefferson County Attorney, seeking office in the 18th, an open seat. Kungu, the former president of the DuPont Manual Young Democrats and a civil attorney, enters the race the age of 29. Good luck Kungu.

Unrelated, but worth a mention, today is the 7th Birthday of my second oldest and second youngest nephew, Kevin. Happy Birthday Kevin.

At My Uncle Bob's Wake - and other musings

There were probably 250 people present at one point or another. Conversations all tended to go something like "I haven't seen you since Uncle Henry died," [that was 1995], or "Whose child is that?" sometimes followed by "So that Elizabeth's, (pause) and Elizabeth is whose daughter?"

The "Class of 1960" from my family, those of us born in that final year of the Esienhower administration, were all there but one. Me, Debbie Brown Solmonson, Steve Collins, Bobby Lewis III (named for the deceased, who never married or had children), and Melanie Baker. Missing from our group was Robert McGohon.

At one point, one of the funeral directors had a call for a "Jim Lewis," to which the answer was "Which one?" as there were three in the room at the time. Another common name in the family is Robert (the name of the father of the deceased, my great-grandfather) and its spinoffs, Rob, Bob, Bobby, and Bobbie (for a female), all of whom were present (including the deceased). I met one of my cousins for the third time last night, yet another Bob Lewis, who was born when his father and I were both LRC employees back in 1980. I had met him the second time at Uncle Henry's funeral. After a short discussion last night, we determined we worked in the the same building here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606, he for the County Clerk, me for the County Attorney. Not only is Louisville just a very big town, but Kentucky remains a small state where lots of folks are related and interrelated, some unbeknownst to each other.

The funeral was held this morning in the rain, with Uncle Bob being laid to rest a few lots above my grandmother, a few lots over from his parents, and amongst the thirty or so relatives of mine buried there in the Sunset Memorial Gardens in Woodford County.

*****

I realize that as a "political" blog I should say something here about the State of the Union address delivered last night by the Commander-In-Chief of the Republic, but there wasn't much to the speech. Lameduck-ness must have already settled in. I was surprised he didn't call for additional tax cuts, but rather only to keep the ones he previously passed. I was happy with his comments on immigration, although he and I seem to be the only two people who seem to agree (and then only somewhat) on this great matter. He admitted the federal government is aiding and abetting faith-based groups with grant money for their social programs, something I find appalling and more properly the role of the federal government. He acknowledged the economy sucks and he offered no real solution, only a short-term fixit - his words, not mine, and one which will deepen the government's already Grand Canyon-like debt. Ironically, he called for an end to earmarks, despite having signed every earmark-earmarked bill the previous Republican-led congress had sent him. Suddenly, earmarks are bad. Maybe they are.

He did seem to enjoy his last State of the Union speech. I enjoyed it knowing he will be giving no more. Redemption draweth nigh.

268. Yes We Can

I've just listened to United States Senator Barack Obama give his victory speech after today's South Carolina Democratic primary, a primary Obama was expected to win and win he did - big. The current margin, with 95% of the vote counted, is 55-26-18 for Obama, Clinton, and Edwards respectively.


I've been for Obama in the past and could be in the future, but I still presently believe that he will not be the nominee and thus not the next president. I still believe that mantle will fall to Mrs. Clinton. But if ever in this long-running presidential campaign thus far that I've heard a speech that awakened a sense of Camelot on the horizon, it was the one the Junior Senator from Illinois just gave in Columbia.

A thought. How ironic - and great - would it be if South Carolina - the Great Dissenter - was the state the vaulted America into having her first non-white President?

267. Robert Alexander Lewis, Jr., 1918-2008

My mother's mother's oldest surviving brother passed away today of a heart attack at a hospital in Frankfort. I have mentioned Uncle Bob Lewis on several occasions in past entries. He is one of the people, along with his older sister, my grandmother, and others, who instilled in me a desire to learn and read and appreciate the social sciences, among them politics, at a very young age. He gave me many books as a little boy, including The Complete Poetical Works of James Whitcomb Riley, a few poems of which I have passed along over time to the readers here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepoint 606.

Uncle Bob never married. He was a graduate of Pea Ridge School, Frankfort High School, and the University of Kentucky. As I recall, he was a member of Choateville Christian Church. He was an attorney and CPA, who was also a part of the "Lewis brothers" who were in and out of politics in Franklin County in the 1960s and 1970s. Uncle Bob served a term as Sheriff, before passing on that position to a distant cousin Ted Collins, who held the same post for several terms before being elected Franklin County Judge Executive in 2006.

For the past several years, Uncle Bob has been a resident of the nursing home out along US 127 South, just south of Louisville Road, on Frankfort's west side. He had become something of the life of the place traversing around on a motorised wheelchair, visiting all his co-residents on a regular basis.

While his funeral arrangements have not been made, most of my Frankfort relatives are buried from the Harrod Brothers Funeral Home in downtown Frankfort. He will be laid to rest amongst many of his (and my) relatives in the Sunset Memorial Gardens along Versailles Road just east of Frankfort.

He is the third of the children who survived infancy of my grandmother and her siblings to pass on, she, Vivian "Tommie" Lewis Hockensmith first in 1976, then my Uncle Henry in 1995. The rest are Frances C. Lewis Moore, Dorothy A. Lewis Henry, Lura E. Lewis Brown, and Jenny Lee Lewis Sharp; and Charles R. Lewis, William E. Lewis, Elbert E. Lewis, and Jimmy C. Lewis. With the exception of Jenny and Jimmy, all are residents of Franklin County.

Rest in Peace, Uncle Bob.

266. Thanks to Kentucky Progress and others, but . . . . .

A quick note to David Adams and Kentucky Progress for his link to my comments in support of Senate Bill 3. I subscribe to Adams' KentuckyVotes.org listserve which is of great help for someone tracking legislation in the ongoing General Assembly. But it was his link on the Kentucky Progress website which gave me some new opinion-seekers. My readership, often referred to as the five faithful readers, spiked over the last few days to not-before-heralded heights. I welcome the Republican faithful who made their way from over there to over here. You will find there is more here than politics, although that's what most of it is. I also appreciate Bridget Bush, another member of the vast right-wing blogospheric conspiracy, who has put my blog on her "left-wing" list of places to visit when in need of a laugh. Her blog is called Elephants in the Bluegrass.

But the fact that my new readership simply visited over from elsewhere in the blogosphere raises a question for me. Are we all, bloggers left-and-right, mostly our own readers with very few newcomers? I once heard on NPR (I know the right wingers think NPR as anathema) that the average readership for any blog is one person, usually the blogger. I know I have those five regular readers and a handful more, and that readership grows ever so incrementally. But we are a long ways from mainstreaming. I think too many bloggers and blog-commenters oversell themselves as to the extent of a blog presence and power. Very few achieve any great success, although for me, the success is in having written mine and having anyone at all read it.

Mark Nickolas' much maligned (and sometimes deservedly so) BluegrassReport.org [for which, in the name of full-disclosure, I have posted three entries] has come and gone. But it did achieve a level of success and was instrumental in bringing about the election of a Democratic governor last year. Jacob Payne's Pageonekentucky.com is approaching similar status. But, I am still concerned when I read that any collection of two or three blogs in alignment on one issue or candidate somehow justifies calling it a force. I do not believe we are there yet.

Perhaps someday. But not yet.

As a reminder for those in Jefferson County who are wishing to seek office on the Louisville-Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee, filings for such must be made by Tuesday, January 29th. The elections are held the weekends of April 5th and April 12. Call HQ at 502-582-1999 for more information.

265. In support of Senate Bill 3 sponsored by the Senator from Burkesville

It would be easy to write about Interstate 265 for the 265th entry, just as I wrote about Interstate 264 for Entry #264. I-265, known as the Gene Snyder Freeway (or to some as the Jefferson Freeway, its former name) is the outer circular highway around the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606, as opposed to the Henry Watterson Expressway (I-264) which is the inner circle, written about earlier in the day. But I've written about both the Snyder Freeway and former Congressman Snyder himself in the past and that wasn't reason enough to draw me back to the blogosphere.

What was reason enough was a comment I made in today's earlier entry about filing deadlines for state legislators and my ardent prayer that they should be later in the year, sometime after the legislators have begun casting about with their Yeas and Nays to the chagrin of many who then say "If I had known she (or he) was going to vote like that I would have filed against them."

But, just as in Jesus' Parable of the Friend at Midnight, the Lord has said (in the Gospel of Saint Luke, Chapter 11) "Keep asking - you will get an answer." Little did I know the Lord would work through Kentucky State Senator David Williams (yes, their David Williams, not ours) in granting my request.


The much maligned and deservedly so senator has a bill in this year's Kentucky General Assembly, Senate Bill 3, which would do at least one of the major things (there are others) I think need to be done if Kentucky and her people are to be properly served by our elected legislators. Briefly, it moves the filing deadline to April and the Primary to mid-August, a few weeks after the soirees at Fancy Farm and Gilbertsville on the first Saturday in August.

I would print the bill in full but it runs 63 pages when taken from the LRC website. Most of those pages are unchanged from the previous wording. The gist of all of the pages is to move the candidate filing deadline from the last Tuesday in January to the last Tuesday in April and the Primary to the first Tuesday after the third Monday in August. As an added feature, it would also eliminate the gubernatorial runoff primary, the one which was avoided this year because the Democratic nominee, now-Governor Steve Beshear, just barely did eke out a 40% vote against Bruce Lunsford, the second place finisher. On the other side, former governor Ernie Fletcher did far more than 40% in beating Anne Northup, the woman who said she would rather be governor than congresswoman but may be changing her mind now that she is neither, in their Primary, so he too avoided the costly runoff. If it were to pass, which is highly unlikely, it would take effect upon being signed into law by the Governor.

There will not be many occassions where I praise the legislative work of the Senator from Burkesville (or perhaps Russell Springs, in another county next door to his, which is also in another senatorial district). So take heed. If you, like me, think a change is needed, call your legislator and say so. The telephone number for all the legislators in Frankfort is 502-564-8100.

In case you haven't been reading your New Testament lately, or your memory of the Friend at Midnight escapes you, here it is below.

He said to them, "Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’ and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’? I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs. "I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

264. Highways, filings, and comments

First, we had a real snow overnight and if one were up through the night, one could view the falling snow through the millions of prisms created by the millions of snowflakes reflecting of the Full Moon posing high overheard. 'Twas a beautiful sight.

I suppose this being entry #264, one of the more appropriate things to talk about today would be our inner-city automotive circle, I-264, and called the Henry Watterson Expressway, after the Confederate military veteran of the 1860s who went on to become editor of the local newspaper, the Louisville Journal, which later merged with another local paper, and became the Louisville Courier-Journal.


Watterson also served a term in Congress and in the 1892 Democratic National Convention was nominated and received votes to be Vice President of the United States. He is buried up in Cave Hill Cemetery, at the top of Broadway, where it intersects with Baxter Avenue, the road leading out of Louisville towards Bardstown.

Today is also, as I mentioned before, my mother's birthday, and I do not want to fail to wish her again, here on a blog she never reads, Happy Birthday. I'll be seeing her to celebrate in a more traditional fashion later this evening.

But what I want to write about today is the local Louisville-Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee, the governing body of the local Democratic Party. This being a presidential election year, all 18 seats for Legislative District Chair and all 18 seats for Legislative District Vice-Chair are up for election. The filing deadline for such seats is one week from today, filings which must be formally done by a Declaration which must be duly signed and notarized not only by the candidate but also by two people familiar enough with the candidate to sign on their behalf. Those persons elected as Chair will also be repsonsible for electing the 18 At-Large members of the committee, as well as the Chair and Vice Chair of the County Committee.

One might surmise that instruction for filing in these offices would be found somewhere on the local Democratic Party webpage, and it is if one takes the time to look. I've had several folks ask me who is running but I am unable to provide an answer, as that seems to be a well-guarded secret. I'm not sure why. I am of the belief that we should be far more open about how one would go about being on the governing body of the local Party. I think such information should be widely made available.

So, for those who are interested, make application with the local Party by next Tuesday at 4:00 pm. Their phone number is 582-1999 and they are located at 640 Barret Avenue, behind the old Jillians restaurant, just north of Broadway. And if you file, leave me a note. Since I haven't been able to get of list from there, I try to keep track of it here.

Next Tuesday is also the filing deadline for all the various offices which will appear on the ballot in this year's primary and general elections. We are still waiting to see who all is willing to run against the Number One Republican in the United States Senate and thus become the consensus candidate after the Primary. Congressman John Yarmuth doesn't know yet what opposition he may face except he knows it won't be Erwin Roberts. Congressman Ron Lewis, who represents most of Okolona in southern Jefferson County as well as a few other Jefferson precincts, will be facing David Boswell, a sitting State Senator from Daviess County. All members of the Kentucky House of Representatives are up as well as those Senate members in odd-numbered districts. The even-numbered Metro Council Districts are up here in Jefferson County, as are most city council or commission districts across the Commonwealth. Last week Secretary of State Trey Grayson pointed out that Kentucky is falling in rank in terms of the diversity of those elected to office in our Commonwealth. He suggested that more people should be encouraged to run, especially at the local level, where most folks get their first taste of politics. That's what I am doing here.

Pray for more snow.

263. As we approach Roe v. Wade, a look at the Death Penalty

Social Justice. The Environment. The Earth.

Those words were part of the homily this morning delivered by visiting priest Fr. Roy Stiles at my church's 8:30 Mass. I've known Fr. Roy for many years. He is an old style, old-fashioned, and getting-old priest who serves as the pastor of the combined churches of St. Therese in Germantown and St. Elizabeth in Schnitzelburg, which is sometimes said to be a sub-division of Germantown proper, itself a neighborhood of Louisville since the 1840s. Those two churches, along with mine, Holy Family, form what the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville calls a cluster, meaning the three keep their indivdual identities but mingle their roles to more effectively serve their respective and collective diminishing congregations.

I spoke with Father after the Mass and expressed my great satisfaction with his inclusion of these old-fashioned Catholic values in his message, social justice (liberal) values that drove the Church in the late 1950s, and through the 1960s and 1970s, but somehow have gotten lost in the last thirty or so years, overtaken by the Me Generation on the one hand, and an undying and unyielding opposition to abortion of the other, both of which have caused the Catholic Church population to move from the left to the right and from being a major part of the Democratic Party to now playing a similar role for Republicans. I was especially pleased that abortion wasn't the centerpiece of Father's weekly message, as this is the weekend usually reserved for such a message as we approach January 22, the day in 1973 when the Supreme Court rendered its (in)famous Roe v. Wade decision. Father Roy never said the word abortion today, nor did the Prayers of the Faithful mention the usual prayer for babies born and unborn.

Like many, I've struggled with a woman's right to choose (or control her body) versus what is described by some as a murder of an unborn baby. Being neither a woman, nor being a person planning on either intentionally or unintentionally starting a family, with the procreative work that is involved, I sometimes feel I am not qualified to make any comments on the subject, pro or con.

That doesn't stifle my belief that murder is wrong and it is especially wrong if undertaken by the government (in my name) as retaliation for a serious crime. I am adamantly opposed to the Death Penalty. I strongly support the government's ability to lock a person away for the rest of their days, leaving them alone in their cell with only the minimal necessities required to exist, as a punishment. As a Catholic Christian, I do believe there is an afterlife, although as a somewhat agnostic and sceptic questioner, I am not all that sure that it involves streets paved of gold and milk and honey for constant refreshment. I've even conceived of the idea that reincarnation is a possibilty, as is nothing at all. But, also as a Christian, I am something of a Universalist who believes that as we are all daughters and sons of God, that despite our wanderings and wickedness, a loving God father-figure wants the best for us in the afterlife and that we will all eventually be the proverbial Prodigal Sons and Daughters returning home in the end, amidst much rejoicing.

For that reason, I am concerned that using the Death Penalty as a means of punishment, may be in fact, sending the criminal off to her or his eternal reward, which is ultimately determined by God and not a Court of Law. How we treat these who are condemned here on earth may play a role in whatever eternal reward, good or bad, may be waiting for us, the condemners, upon our earthly demise. I do not take this lightly. Unlike the discussion of abortion, from which I preclude myself for the reasons stated above, I feel I have a part of the discussion on the Death Penalty.

Many years ago, when I was 15, my paternal grandmother, Grace Irene Lee Noble, whose birthday was a few days ago, was murdered in the jewelry store where she was working. This was August 9, 1976. She was murdered by two men who went on to murder another person, a 19 year old gas station attendant. Eventually the two were tried and convicted of both murders. At the time, the most they could be sentenced to was 64 years, which they were. Each have been up for parole several times and I (and others) have worked to make sure they weren't paroled so they would serve the maximum amount of their sentence. Eventually, if they live long enough, they will be freed. They will have served their sentences and be returned to society. If today's law had been in effect when they were tried and convicted, they would no doubt have been sentenced to death. Having been thus sentenced, chances are we, the taxpayers, would have paid over and over for their retrials, mistrials, and appeals further and further up the judicial ladder. Or, they would have paid the ultimate price, and would have been executed by the State and gone on to whatever awaits them on the other side, something no one on this side really knows anything about. As it was, the system worked (or at least has worked so far) in that they are still incarcerated and there are no further appeals.

That is the justice I propose in lieu of the Death Penatly -- Life in Prison without the possibility of parole. Life in Prison rather than being dispatched by the government by injection or whatever lethal means are legal, and possibly being dispatched from a hardened criminal life here on earth to a reward awaiting them by a merciful and grateful heavenly father.

We've all been to funerals where we (and everyone else in attendance) are fully aware that the deceased (who was either kith or kin) wasn't the dearly beloved the eulogists have made them out to be. Nevertheless, it is usually our ardent hope, assuming we believe in any afterlife at all, that they - by their death - are removed from whatever problems had afflicted them here on earth and are "At Peace." We really do hope for these things even if it isn't comfortable to believe them. The truth is we usually pray for such things at the funeral service itself. At least I do, and I think deep in many hearts of hearts, others do as well.

So, my opposition to the Death Penalty stands strong and unwavering, while my concerns about whether or not Abortion Stops a Beating Heart, as many of the bumper stickers read on the cars parked in front of St. Martin's Church at any hour of the day, as they have a perpetual prayer going on there in opposition to abortion, wavers back and forth between the woman's right of control of her body versus the government's right to tell her she can't control the same. I have never found a happy home in this discussion and there may not be one. I believe I am personally opposed to abortion just as I am personally opposed to murder and the Death Penalty. The antiabortionists believe life begins at conception. In the Catholic Church, we bestow much adoration upon the Mother of Jesus because she was Immaculately Conceived. We even have a feast day to celebrate it, December 8, first established in 1476. We, and many other churches, celebrate the angel of the Lord appearing to Mary, telling her of her upcoming pregnancy, and her response of "be it unto me according to thy word," as told in the First Chapter of Saint Luke, the chapter preceding the much better known Second Chapter which tells of the birth of Jesus. Thus, celebrating conception as opposed to birth is a long-standing tradition of the Church. Nonetheless, most of us do not celebrate the date of our own conception, perhaps because it may be just too embarassing a question to ask of our parents exactly when it happened since chances are really good that no angel of the Lord appeared to our mothers or fathers informing them of the impending pregnancy. For me, my parents were married on a given date and nine months less three days later I was born. The math is pretty easy, but I've never addressed it as a question to either of my parents.

So, while the rest of the Cathlic world may heve been praying for an end to abortion this morning in Masses, Fr. Roy told us to look further than ourselves and our own needs and beliefs to those of others, whether they be Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, and even atheists - those are his words, not mine, although I fully concur. And he talked about Social Justice in the world and physical justice for the environment and the earth and the ties that bind us, not the schisms which divide us. It was a truly great sermon in my opinion.

Looking ahead, tomorrow is the Monday Holiday celebration of the person some have called America's saint, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The next day, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade is also the 68th Anniversary of the Nativity of my best friend, my mother Barbara Hockensmith. Happy Birthday Mom. Finally, one year from today we will inaugurate the 44th President of the United States, bringing to an end to unjust junta in control of the country since their stealing of the election in 2000.


Thanks Be To God.

262. Short entry again

Ok, I've been busy. So, what about Greg Fischer? Not yet a consensus candidate, but then no one else is either. More on Friday. By the way, tomorrow is the 46th birthday of my only sibling, Kevin. Happy Birthday Kevin.

261. I'm curious

I've never asked such a question before but I am curious. Someone from Georgetown University in DC has been logging in on a regular basis and spending some time reading more than just a page. Do I know you?

260. Bush: Israel and Palestine

The Commander-In-Chief of the United States has taken to the airwaves, literally, as 2008 has started, making a several-day - several-stop trip in the Middle East with a plate full of mostly non-achievable goals as he heads toward the Fifth Act of what has mostly been a failed Play of an administration. Like Clinton, Bush pere, and Carter among others before him, the current Bush is seeking some legacy other than the one he currently has under his belt, one which many of us would just as soon move on from. And like those before him, finding Peace in the Middle East, especially peace between Israel and Palestine, is one of the avenues he is pursuing. Good for him.

I am 47 years old and since the summer I was 6, conflicts between Israel and Palestine have been a nightly feature of the national news. Lots of presidents have tried with little success to achieve a lasting legacy between these two peoples claiming the same territory as their homeland. I do not propose or suppose to know the answer here. I do think that attempting to find peace is a noble undertaking and while I disagree with the president on much of what he (hasn't) accomplished during his tenure, on this matter I wish him well.

There are those who are critical of him saying he is just looking for a good note to go out on - a new legacy. If so, then so be it. Many presidents before him, including the most famous fictional one, Josiah Bartlet, felt this was one area where a lasting legacy could be effected. And not only does Bush need a new legacy, but so do those who live in this troubled zone. While the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a staple of news for my whole life, I do not know or understand all there is separating these people. I have Jewish friends and I have Palestinian friends and my perspective is often framed by their respective thoughts. I will add that all of my Jewish friends are native Americans and all of my Palestinians friends are not. So the persepctives I read are from different ends of the spectrum, although my American-born Jewish friends are no where near as emotional on the issue as are their counterparts who were born in the disputed areas.

So on this day when Christians celebrate the Baptism of Jesus Christ in the nearby waters of the Jordan River, thus beginning a new chapter in the history of the world, I wish the president well in his endeavors to bring a new Peace to the peoples of Israel and Palestine, even though I have no idea what that Peace might be.

259. Another Milestone

. . . . although we prefer to say Milepost as in the Left Bank of the Ohio River Near Milepost 606. Then somtimes I type Milepoint. Today's milestone? Our meter reader informs us that we've topped 10,000 page reads amongst our 7700+ reader-hits. So today's entry is about ego-stroking, with this first part stroking mine.

Then there is the recovery of the Mayor of Louisville-Jefferson County Metro, who after having a somewhat down 2007 rebounded Thursday night with the re-passage of the Smoking Ban, which he signed into law Friday morning (for the second time) proclaiming it was time to move on to other matters of more importance. I wont argue the plusses and minusses of the Ban. I will say the Mayor is correct. There are important issues facing the City and he needs to be addressing them.

Thursday was also election day for the President of the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Council with that high-and-mighty post going to Tenth District Councilman Jim King, who was first elected to the Council in 2004 and has aspirations for higher office. Jim's work in the 10th District is evident every where you look. Improvements have been popping up in every nook and crannie, the most recent being the completion of the clean-up and painting of the Norfolk-Southern Railroad Crossing which, according to the signage attached to it, separates the neighborhoods of Belmar and Camp Zachary Taylor, the latter of which is normally called by the less-pompous folks who reside therein, simply Camp Taylor. No mention is made of the Prestonia community which preceded both of these names, as I have written about before here on the blog. Best Wishes to President King [an almost-reduncancy] in his term as legislative leader of the Free World, at least the 380 or so square miles along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606.

Finally, it looks like the presidential races may be taking off or maybe not. There has been a lot of talk about the pundits and the politicians misreading the polls and predicting Senator Obama would get Win Number Two in New Hampshire, which of course did not happen. There are competing theories as to why this misread occurred. I'll suggest that much of eastern Iowa is in the Illinois media market, where Obama has been covered reguarly since his statewide election in 2004. Similarly, all of New Hampshire gets New York news, news which would inevitably give Senator Clinton an edge there. Just my thoughts.

Closer to home, among several friends running for the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Council, including several incumbents, are two men who aren't incumbents. Ken Herndon is seeking to upset long-term Councilman George Unseld in the 6th District, which includes Old Louisville, California, and parts of the South End, as well as some of the downtown high-rises. Brent Ackerson is seeking office in an open seat in the 26th District, a suburban area running from Saint Matthews south along Browns and Breckinridge lanes southwestward through Seneca Park, Bowman Field, Bon Air, and into the smaller cities of Kingsley, Wellington, and Strathmore. I am helping both of them in these efforts.

Anything else? The weathermen are calling for snow tomorrow. Thanks Be To God.