KET IS WRONG

My fave state PBS network, whose praises I have sung here many times, is trying to  control the US Senate debate in ways a journalist should never do.

This, if a lawsuit filed by David Patterson, Libertarian candidate for the Senate, is correct. He charges KET changed the debate rules, between the spring primary, and the filing deadline for minority party candidates, to exclude the latter—specifically him.  He seeks, in a federal court lawsuit, to have KET restrained from such rules and he be allowed to debate with Grimes and McConnell.

I have long believed this is not a role for journalists. If a person is legally qualified under state law, to run, the “media” whether KET or a local radio station (or even the League of Women Voters) MUST allow them all on their stages. Otherwise the public they serve is short-changed in “the marketplace of ideas.”

KET probably forgets Mitch’s party was once a minority  party. It grew into a majority party by being heard. Yes, there is always a Fifi Rockefeller and that man in London who filed every four years because “my mother told me I was going to be President.” Yes, these can be the bane of KET and LWV and channel 27…but that “bane” is the lesser of several evils when  compared with the good democracy can achieve from the exchange of ideas..and our history is sprinkled with issues championed by minority parties that became mainstream…not the least of which is the 40 hour work week, and an end to child labor.

I hope the U-S court will speedily hold for Mr. Patterson. And I hope between elections the KET board will instruct its staff to come up with no more of these anti-democratic ideas.

Now, let's get on with the debates..the full debates!

I'm just sayin'...

DOES U.K. REALLY BELIEVE IN THE FIRST AMENDMENT???

To observe Constitution Week, an annual event commemorating the fundamental document of our nation, U.K. had several political speakers on campus.

One was  Robert Ransdell, from Northern Kentucky, a qualified write-in candidate for U.S. Senate.

He came, he spoke, and well, we know the rest...

Ransdell, UK should have known—but apparently didn’t, has been described as a “neo-Nazi.” That he may or may not be, he definitely is anti-Semitic. His slogan is “With Jews We Lose.”

It wasn’t long before his views were very apparent in his talk at the UK Sudent Center. The audience objected and there were calls, according to news reports, that he be thrown off stage. He wasn’t, but a student center official apparently cut the power to his microphone and Ransdell quit.

So much for that observance of Constitution Week.  So much for the trade in ideas at UK. So much for a belief  in the First Amendment, which was written into  the Bill of Rights just to support ideas which are abhorrent to the majority.

UK President Eli Capilouto, who just happens to be the school’s first Jewish President, issued a statement saying “the language of hate..has no place in our community” which begs the question.

Either you support the First Amendment and allow UNpopular views to be heard, or you don’t.

I side with Thomas Jefferson, who said in his first inaugural address (relating to another civic issue then and people who held those unpopular views)…"Let them stand undisturbed as a monument of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated,  where reason is left free to combat it.”

UK failed its First Amendment test, and during Constitution week. A bad  lesson for students…and all of us.


I'm just sayin'...

ELECTION DISTRICTS: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

Election day approaches and lists are being drawn of key districts to watch.

The Herald-Leader focuses on 8 districts whose outcome could change who controls the Kentucky House. 5 of the 8 have had their district lines redrawn.

Cn/2 politics focuses on 10..and 5 of these have had their lines redrawn.

In both cases, the Democrats who control the House redrew lines for their advantage. (Had the GOP been in control, based on past history in almost every state, they would have redrawn lines to favor themselves.)

This is NOT the way government should be run.  Some states, 16 I think, have been smart enough to shift the responsibility for redrawing district lines after each census to a bi-partisan group (if not non-partisan.) In most cases it’s an independent commission composed of  specialists in population studies, geography, political science—often from state universities—as well as officials of both parties. Sometimes the legislatures can overturn those lines..by a super majority..and recourse can be had to the courts.

Kentucky needs to adopt such a system..and soon..long before the next census is held and this gerrymandering begins again. The presents lines were delayed this cycle because the first set of lines didn’t pass muster in the courts.

And it’s not just the states. The “gridlock” of Washington can fairly be traced to a GOP strategy  (not that the Dems would have been  different) of gerrymandering Southern states (especially Texas where the top GOP official responsible was convicted of violating the law and N.C. where new district lines were only as wide as the interstate highway they followed, and key state Florida, where the lines got redone just weeks before their most recent election.)

Not a way to run a railroad..or a nation that prides itself on democracy.  This is  not democracy. Only such minor issues  as war and taxes and health care, and new highways, small stuff like that, hangs on those votes.

I hope the presidents of UK and UL, which have faculties that study this situation, may become “pro-active”  (and pro-democracy) and suggest a way out of Kentucky’s current mess..it’s long, long overdue.

I'm just sayin'...

THE DISPPEARANCE OF STAMPING GROUND

Over the weekend I drove up to Owenton to meet some friends. My usual route is from Lexington to Stamping Ground, having picked up one of my favorite scenic roads, Ky 227 at the historic Great Crossing.  (Those 2 towns get their names from herds of buffalo which swarmed over Kentucky in the 18 and 19^th centuries!)

I have been on that road a half down times in recent years and thought I had the route down pat. I always take along the latest KY highway map, but this time, to be safe, I added a KY Atlas and Gazetteer from the well known map maker, DeLorme, which has GPS points.  (No GPS in my 20 year old wagon.)

I never got there.

Never found Great Crossing, and Stamping Ground must have disappeared.

I turned off the 460 by-pass onto 460 proper, and just a few miles down the road found new road construction right where the turn to Great Crossing should be (and I was certain it was.) But, there were NO signs..and I mean NO signs (except one saying..”Parents---school entrance”)

I drove on, happy for the new black top, but after a mile or so, realized something was wrong. I should have been at the Crossing soon, and even the Ground shortly..but no. Good blacktop; NO signs.

Miles later, when a pickup truck came out of a side road I signaled the driver to talk to me and asked the way to Stamping Ground. He told me I would see a “T” road a mile or so away, take a right and in time I would be in Stamping Ground. I thanked him and went on. (Once in Greater Downtown Metropolitan Stamping Ground I would have no trouble picking up 227 to Owenton.)

Maybe he meant left; whatever, miles later I was on Ky 32.

Once in a while..a great while..there would be a sign that assured me this was still 32..I route I had not travelled before (and not as scenic as 227.)

OK, enough of the jokes about men will never stop and ask directions.  A young man stopped his mowing to my simple plea “(I’m lost, How do I get to Owenton?”) He had never heard of Owenton (Was I that far back in the boonies? But he whipped out a smart phone, pulled up a map ,found Owenton and said to continue on and I would eventually come to I-75 at Sadieville. (I was going East away from Owenton, but at least I knew that exit and how to go from there.)

More driving on 32..No vehicles passed, very few signs to even acknowledge 32 let alone any side roads, which would have helped me using my Atlas. I even stopped a kind lady, when I was about to make a mistake and turn off 32 onto a side road because it was marked..and 32 wasn’t.

Finally, high enough ground near 75..and the sight of a cell tower allowed me to call and tell my friends I would be late.

Up 75 to the 144 exit, then west on 330..also new blacktop. So new in fact the sides had caved away in only a dozen places on my 22 mile journey to Owenton, during which not a single car was going in my direction (which was good because the entire distance has two yellow stripes down the center making passing illegal.)

30 Minutes late I arrived for dinner and made my apologies.

Now I appreciate road repairs and new blacktop as much as anyone..but DOT folks..more signs please. Just one sign at 460 could have saved me. Signs along 32 would have helped very much—and there’s a road that truly needs new blacktop.

Just look up the word “meander” in any dictionary. It says..”See KY route 32”

I'm just sayin'...

IT’s ALL “P.R.” : Personal Ruminations

“Paper or plastic?”  California is ending the use of one time only plastic sacks within a year---and Kentucky should do likewise.  Maybe then Kroger will have enough paper sacks to go around.  (Boxers or briefs?  Boxers, not that you asked!)

Why is it not possible for anchors and reporters on the same newscast to pronounce the same word the same way?  Amirli is an Iraqi town in the news, only 6 letters, but the weekend anchor pronounced it one way, the field reporter another. And, by the way, there is—as a famous book on foreign names once said..”no ‘cow’ in Moscow” It’s “MOSS-ko”, not that everyone at CBS agrees.

How did that wall sized-mural downtown ever get painted over? New owner said he just didn’t understand what it was and why there.  Meadow muffins. But to prevent such art atrocities from happening in the future, LexArts should publish a list of the 16 public murals we supposedly  have, their locations, and get signs on them as quickly as possible. This one disappeared, in part, because there was only an “oral promise” with the original businessman involved.

Has the Weather Channel lost its mission?  Do we really want to see more shows such as “Fat Guys in the Woods?” (NO!) And the original two minutes of weather “on the eights” has now been cut down to one minute, and when slobby male shows are on, often disappears entirely.

Thank you Morgan & Morgan..if we must have lawyer ads, and D. Isaacs has lost his once  funny, appealing ads with catchy music to become…The Hammer!,  then this family firms’ ads are the best we see locally. (Is her name really Ultima?)

The UK moving in seemed worse than ever last week..I saw lines of vehicles from Lime all the way down Euclid to High and south  to as far as the eye could see..well beyond Cassidy School..at one point. There’s gotta be a better way.

I believe young people do need instructions in handling firm arms..at some point. That point is NOT giving a 9 year old an Uzi, whether there is an instructor nearby or not. (BTW, he’s  now dead due to this error in judgment.) 40 years ago when I came here, I remember seeing my first ad for an Uzi in an eastern Kentucky paper. It was sold by The Family Store.

Goodbye Diana Sawyer. You made us proud that this Kentucky native could do so well on network tv. We’re sorry you’ve left the ABC world news daily cast, but we do look forward to your special reports from time to time.