Friday, 27 October 2006

Northup has Five Times the Money

Coming into the last two weeks of the campaign the cash on hand numbers are staggering. Yarmuth has $165,000 cash on hand while Northup has almost $900,000. That is a disparity that will will make it difficult for Yarmuth to gain any ground on Northup down the stretch.

Once again we see the amateurishness of the Yarmuth team compared to team Northup. While Northup's team budgeted to have money for the stretch run, Yarmuth's team has squandered the money they did have and are now facing a short fall for the last two weeks.

It is Northup's ability to run a professional campaign intelligently that has convinced me she will win the race handily.

Posted by elendil at 5:37 PM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Abramson with Huge Lead on Downard

The Courier-Journal is running a bluegrass poll result that shows Abramson with a 71 percent to 18 percent lead on Downard. I have a hard time believing these numbers. Any Republican in Jefferson County should get at least 30% of the vote as a baseline. Where did they randomly select these people from? Exclusively from the Bardstown Rd corridor and West End?

I will be interested to see the details of this poll. If the same poll shows Yarmuth with a 5 or 6 point lead over Northup then this poll is a complete joke and nothing more than a propaganda piece put forth by the Courier right before the election. Even so, this is not good for Downard. I suspect Abramson will win comfortably around 62 to 35. If that happens we will get to hear more about Abramson for Governor. Ugh!

Posted by elendil at 5:15 PM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Iran's Quds Day

Many on the left of the political spectrum dismiss or downplay the danger posed by the Islamic fascists around the world. They believe that if we just leave and retreat back to our own shores that they will leave us alone.

Well, let's take a look at the activities from the recent Qud's day in Iran to see how they celebrated to get a feel for their sentiment.

It is disturbing when the entire leadership of one nation, along with hundreds of thousands of its citizens, comes out with celebrations and parades every year that call for the annihilation of another country.

It is more twisted that no world leaders or international bodies, including the United Nations, have denounced the activities surrounding Quds Day, an Iranian holiday introduced by Ayatollah Khomeini that is marked on the last Friday of Ramadan.

...

However, this year's revelries focused both on calling for the annihilation of America and embracing Iran's nuclear program.The celebrations included proclamations by the country's leaders and activities for university students and artists.

Isfahan University's Mechanical Energy College took first place in a Quds Day competition for its design of a pilotless plane that can be used for "suicide attacks."

The director of the Iranian Broadcasting Organization of Music Production, Mohammad Mirzamani, composed a symphony dedicated to "the victory over the Zionist regime,"

First place went to the engineers who came up with a way to remotely control planes so as to crash them into buildings! What a frightening thought, and to think it is sponsored by any state. And to think that by leaving them alone they will abandon all of this hatred? This entire celebration border's on the surreal.

This is the same type of lunacy that came from Hitler before he seized control of Germany.

Just like the 1930's there are those who refuse to see the threat right in front of their faces, Back then it was fascism, today it is radical Islam. And much like Chamberlain did back then, there are those who would rather appease our enemies rather than confront them directly. Today, the appeasers can be found on political left. Which is why the upcoming election is so critical. We need people in control of government who see the threat for what it is.

Come on, you are overstating the threat posed by Iran? Am I?

I know that Iran is not the next Germany. They don't have the resources and capability to build a war machine of comparable quality. But they do have the resources necessary to create nuclear weapons. If they obtain such a weapon they will control a tremendous fury with which they can unleash upon the world.

Many didn't take Hitler at his word when he said he wanted to exterminate the Jews. That mistake cost millions of innocent lives. Can we afford to do the same again today?

Posted by elendil at 1:31 AM in National Politics
Responses (0)

Monday, 23 October 2006

Courier's Rose Colored Glasses And Abramson

It comes as no surprise that the Courier Journal endorsed Jerry Abramson for Mayor. He is a liberal's liberal and one of their guys. My only problem with the endorsement is the tortured logic they used to validate their opinion.

He doesn't miss any chance to make things better. Last week we spotted him on the Fifth Street sidewalk, picking up litter on his way to the office.

Can they gush any more over him? He is so saintly he even picks up trash! Give me a break. So he can pick up trash. What else has he done? Let's take a look at the Couriers points.

It's among the safest communities for its size in America.

So that is why murder rates have been skyrocketing upwards in the last couple of years?

It has a well-thought-out regional economic development strategy that both government and business leaders endorse, and that events continue to validate.

Yeah, E-Main was a great idea. How about the Renaissance zones? 4th Street Live was a great way to bring in National franchises at the expense of local establishments. How about the STAR program that makes it more difficult for our manufacturers to compete nationally. The same program that greatly upset Ford, One of the biggest employers in Louisville. Yeah that is a great economic development plan, displace local business and over regulate the bigger ones.

Its public schools enjoy an 80-percent-and-growing market share, and a national reputation for quality and diversity.

Huh? I have no idea what they are talking about here.

Its downtown is more vital than in decades, and is becoming more so with every new construction site, and not at the expense of its pleasant suburbs.

This makes absolutely no sense. There is a limited amount of money. If they are revitalizing downtown, then someone is paying for it. The answer is the residents of Jefferson County. The merger may have been efficient, but the rest of the county has suffered from downtown centric focus.

Fourteen city employee contracts have been negotiated successfully, with only the firefighters' agreement still unresolved. He has recruited new, national-level talents like Robert White, Mike Heitz, Dr. Adewale Troutman and Dr. Neal Richmond to head up the police, parks, health and emergency services.

Yeah, Robert White has been a real talent. He has successfully alienated the entire police force as he continually stabs them in the back. A police force that is well underfunded and undermanned. But we have to pay for downtown revitalization some how.

The fire fighters have revolted and dislike Abramson immensely. The 911 services have been a complete boondoggle with the quality of service dropping since he moved it.

I won't even get into the stupidity of building a new stadium downtown. That is a financial disaster that will never be fully measured. Or how about the smoking ban that will eliminate a number of small locally owned entertainment Establishment like it has in Lexington. This is definitely great leadership skill!

The bottom line is when Abramson took over as mayor in the 80's we were the bigger than both Indianapolis and Nashville. Today both cities have bypassed us and are growing at a much faster rate. How can this be possible if Abramson was such a wonderful leader? I think the Courier needs to take off their rose colored glasses and note that Abramson is not the cities answer. He is part of the problem that is keeping the city stagnant all of these years.

Posted by elendil at 11:52 PM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Friday, 20 October 2006

Yarmuth's New Site Smells

Rep. Northup's team created a web site called theyarmuthrecord.com which is dedicated to citing articles that Yarmuth wrote for the LEO. There is nothing else on the site except excerpts from Yarmuth's columns. The sum of which paint Yarmuth to be a liberal elitist. Which he is.

Of course this doesn't jive with Yarmuth's new found moderation on the issues. He has spent much of the campaign fighting his liberal image. Why? Because liberals can't win elections when they are who they are. Instead they need to cloak themselves in moderation so voters don't know what they really believe. Otherwise the average person would be appalled and refuse to vote for them.

To combat the Liberal label that Yarmuth has effectively been branded with, the Yarmuth campaign has created a site called northupexposure.com. It's stated purpose is to respond to theyarmuthrecord.com

After going through the site I found very little defending Yarmuth. Instead it seems to be meant as a Northup parody site. The only problem is the web site isn't funny. Instead the caricatures of Bush and Northup are insulting and the entire hit piece seems both sophomoric and vindictive.

I don't understand why liberals get so mad and spiteful when all you do is point out what they believe. Maybe because they thought it would be easy to fool everyone and they hate being wrong. I don't know why, but whatever it is Northup struck a nerve. She had to in order to be the target of such vitriolic hate.

But in the end, this is just one more example of the childishness of the Yarmuth campaign. Instead of campaigning fairly, they try once again to stretch the boundaries of decency.

Hopefully the people of Louisville will reject his campaign and vote for the adult in the race and send Northup back to Washington.

Posted by elendil at 9:42 AM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Thursday, 19 October 2006

Yarmuth's Smarmy Campaign

First we had Yarmuth's team trying to sneak a paid staffer in as a volunteer in the Northup campaign, but claimed he did it on his own. Then they ran an advertisement that lied about Northup's voting record, but claimed that version of the add was never supposed to run.

Now we are treated to another ethical lapse from these guys. This time in a violation of the campaign finance laws. It appears that Yarmuth failed to notify his opponents that he had personally loaned his campaign more than $350,000. Currently he has contributed $390,000 to his campaign.

Ryan said candidates who have contributed more than $350,000 are in violation of federal campaign finance law if they don't make the notification.

Jennifer Steen, a professor at Boston College who authored a study last year on the amendment for the Campaign Finance Institute, said the law is "unambiguous" in requiring notification.

She cited a commission brochure clearly stating that candidates who contribute $350,000 to their own campaigns must notify their opponents.

That seems like a pretty clear violation of the finance laws to me. But again we are treated to a "nothing was done on purpose" type of excuse from Yarmuth.

Yarmuth said yesterday that Burke made a good-faith effort to follow the law and that, if his campaign needs to notify other candidates of his contributions, it will.

For me this is a clear pattern of unethical behavior employed by the Yarmuth campaign in this election. It almost seems as if they believe they are so superior that the actual law and rules of campaigning don't apply to them. But then again, that is what we come to expect from Liberals now a days. The ends justify the means.

Is this the type of "new" leadership we want in Washington?

Posted by elendil at 11:04 AM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Brawl in Miami

Last Saturday in Miami, a football game was played between the University of Miami and Florida International. Late in the third quarter a melee broke out between the two teams. It was a wild affair with players swinging their helmets, players stomping on opponents with their cleats, and one player swinging his crutches at people.

The whole spectacle was a complete embarrassment to both teams and the schools they represent. The best commentary I saw on the incident came from former Kentucky coach Bill Curry

The aftermath is predictable except for one aspect. We are acting as if we are surprised. How could rational thinkers possibly be surprised? The surprise should be that we do not have more unbridled violence in our sports.

We live in a culture that celebrates belligerence like we once celebrated religious holidays. We live in a culture in which a large percentage of fathers have abdicated responsibility to raise their children. We live in a culture in which many parents would rather be friends with their children than disciplinarians of their children.

Our kids play video games that make the FIU-Miami brawl look like a Sunday school picnic. We pack huge arenas to watch grotesque actors impersonate competitive athletes while bashing each other with metal folding chairs and throwing referees out of the rings. We allow our children to listen to song lyrics that call into question the most basic attributes of human decency. We pay millions of dollars to radio talk hawks, who pound away at the fabric of reason and diplomacy. Football fans believe it is their absolute right to scream obscenities into the faces of coaches, coaches' families, players and players' families.

Curry insightfully outlines the root cause of the outright violence that showed its way onto the field last Saturday. We have a culture that glorifies violence, abdicates responsibility, and fails to discipline.

While the culture is not an issue we can address overnight, responsibility and discipline could have been enforced in this case.. Unfortunately, the universities (especially Miami) refused make examples of these thugs that desecrated the game. Instead most of the players will only serve a one game suspension. So much for the colleges setting an example for others to follow. Rather they decided to kick the can down the road for others to deal with in the future.

It's a shame to see these fine universities fail to act. Especially when they could have helped turn the tide against the poisonous elements of our culture.

Posted by elendil at 1:11 AM in Sports Topics
Responses (0)

Wednesday, 18 October 2006

A Democratic Response to Steny Hoyer's Remarks

How dare are a white leader from a major political party say that an African American candidate running of the Senate is "slavishly" supporting his party. Such overt racism has no place in politics! This is a prime example of the politics of personal destruction and dirty tricks that define the Republican party. I call for anyone who would dare utter such despicable remarks to step down immediately.

What is that you say? It was House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer who made those remarks. Oh, well he couldn't have possibly meant it. That was just a poor choice of words. This is no big deal. He should definitely be allowed to stay in power.

Posted by elendil at 2:06 AM in National Politics
Responses (0)

2nd District Update

The only reason I am talking about this race is not because it is competitive, but because I want to offer some advice for Mr. Weaver. If you are a "conservative" who happens to be a Democrat, you may want to think about changing parties. That way you don't have to make the following stupid and ignorant remarks trying to defend your party.

"They have tolerated things that they should not have tolerated," Weaver said. "And it is far worse than what Bill Clinton wanted to do with Don't Ask, Don't Tell because this has to do with 16-year-old boys. So they covered that up, and that showed a very liberal tendency from some of the leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives."

When asked to clarify whether he was equating predatory behavior toward children with being liberal, Weaver said that had Foley been a Democrat, the entire party would have been branded as liberals.

"I think that is despicable conduct and that if anybody in the Democratic Party had done that, it would be: 'Those damn liberals are doing it again. We can't trust them,'" he said.

At one point, his campaign manager, Robert Kellar, interrupted the interview to interject that Weaver was "not saying liberals are pedophiles."

Of course those remarks set off the fringe lefties over at DailyKos and allowed Ron Lewis to make Weaver look juvenile.

"He's got a confusing message going there," Lewis said Tuesday afternoon. "I don't know where he's coming from."

Lewis said he rejected any idea that liberals are more apt to be socially deviant or to cover up such activity. "I have liberal friends who are very decent human beings," he said.

Again, let me advise Weaver. Switch parties after you are beaten this fall. That way you can be conservative without saying stupid remarks that make you look like a bigot. Besides, the Democratic party is no longer a party that tolerates conservative members. Ask former Georgia Senator Zell Miller if you doubt it.

Posted by elendil at 12:25 AM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

4th District Update

As we come down the stretch in this campaign season, it is good to take stock as to where the key races in Kentucky stand. The hottest race is probably the 4th district in Northern Kentucky. One that pits Republican Congressman Geoff Davis against former Democratic Congressman Ken Lucas.

The latest polls shows incumbent Davis with a three point lead, 47-44, over Lucas. The problem for Lucas is that he had a 9 point lead in July and a 4 point lead last month. All of the momentum appears to be with Davis as we head down the down stretch.

The question I have is can Lucas turn the momentum around? I don't think so for two reasons.For me the biggest reason Davis will win is because he has brought the most passion to the campaign. When he was down 9 points in July he hit the road and campaigned in every county in his district. Meanwhile Lucas has limited his appearances. During the same period Davis out raised Lucas almost 8 to 3. Davis still has $1.6 million dollars cash on hand while Lucas barely has $400,000. That is an 4 to 1 advantage heading towards November. It is hard to regain momentum while being outspent by that type of margin.

Secondly, what I call the Nancy Pelosi factor is in play in this race. Many in the district are worried about voting for Lucas just to see Nancy Pelosi become speaker of the house. While they may like Lucas, they really don't want a San Fransisco liberal being the next Speaker. Once again the drag from the national Democrats will keep a conservative Democrat like Lucas from gaining the cross over voters he is going to need to steal this election.

But for me the big issue is the lack of passion and drive emanating from the Lucas campaign. I don't know if it is his age or what, but he doesn't appear to have the energy or commitment necessary to unseat Davis. And for that reason, I think Davis will win this race by 5 to 10 points.

Posted by elendil at 12:05 AM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Friday, 13 October 2006

2008 Presidential Field Narrows

Former Virginia Governor, Mark Warner has decided to not run for president in 2008. He cited family concerns as the primary reason for declining to run.

"I know these moments are never going to come again. This weekend made clear what I'd been thinking about for many weeks -- that while politically this appears to be the right time for me to take the plunge, at this point, I want to have a real life,"

I am guessing that the real reason he isn't running is because after testing the waters he came to a simple conclusion. Hillary Clinton has sucked up all of the oxygen in the room. By oxygen I mean all of the big money donors. Money is going to be very hard to come by with her in the race. And candidates can't survive long without money.

This is great news for Republican chances in 2008. Warner is one of about three conservative candidates that could win the Democratic nomination. Of course, I use the term conservative to mean only moderately leftist. But that is all you need to be positioned as a centrist candidate with the MSM.
Many political observers saw Warner as a potential centrist candidate that could serve as an alternative to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who has not declared her candidacy but is expected to dominate the Democratic race in '08.

Without a centrist candidate, I doubt the Dems can win the red states necessary to recapture the White House. Good news for Republicans indeed.

Posted by elendil at 4:41 PM in National Politics
Responses (0)

Thursday, 12 October 2006

Mayor Abramson Makes A Stand

I was surprised to read the headlines in the Courier Journal that stated that Abramson threatened to veto the smoking ban in Louisville. I thought WOW. Abramson is standing up for property rights and small business owners. I never thought I would see the day. Not only did Abramson make a stand, but he took an actual conservative position

Of course, I was immediately disappointed when I read the details. It turns out, Abramson wasn't threatening the veto on behalf of business owners. No he was threatening a veto of the measure because it didn't go far enough in denying rights. Ugh!

The original compromise would ban smoking in all buildings with two exceptions. The first was for businesses that install a separate ventilation system. The second was for Churchill Downs. Our Mayor didn't feel that went far enough. He wanted a ban on all buildings with the lone exception of Churchill Downs. Anything less and he said he would veto the ordinance.

Unfortunately, the ordinance which bans smoking in all buildings except Churchill Downs passed tonight 19-5. Unfortunately, only four Republican's on the council voted against this farce.

It will be interesting to see how this ordinance effects local bars. The biggest winner is going to be Fourth Street Live which is "outside" in the enclosed areas around the bars. Making it the only enclosed place to smoke in town. The big losers will be the smaller bars on Bardstown Rd that don't have any outside areas for clients to smoke. Customers will flee them to find more smoking friendly facilities.

UPDATE 10/13

What about all of those companies that added seperate ventilation systems the last time the council passed an ordinance against smoking. I guess they are out the $20K they paid for the upgrade. Talking about getting screwed. Thanks Metro Council! You are truly a friend of business.

Posted by elendil at 11:59 PM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Wednesday, 11 October 2006

Judicial Races

U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell ruled yesterday that two provisions of the Kentucky Bar's policy on judicial conduct as unconstitutional. One is the rule that forbids judicial candidates from soliciting funds. The other is the rule that forbids candidates from identifying their political party.

Personally, I like knowing the political affiliations of the judicial candidates. It would give me a better idea what the judicial philosophy will be if they are elected to the bench. I could more readily determine if the judge is an activist judge who sees new things in the law, or a strict constitutionalists.

That has always been the challenge when voting in judicial races. Which judge fits closest to my judicial philosophy? I have no clue. As far as I can tell judges are elected either randomly or by whoever has the most money for advertisement.

Which leads to the ability to solicit campaign funds. Although this could be open to abuse, it would give people who are not independently wealthy a chance to run. Of course all that would do is eliminate the money factor and make the races completely random.

Personally, I believe the only the way to keep judicial races from randomness is to not elect judges. Let the administration with approval from the legislature pick judges. That way you would improve the average quality of judges in Kentucky. True it would eliminate the random chance of a great judge getting elected. But it also keeps the complete idiots from sitting on the bench. And that should be our goal.

Posted by elendil at 11:21 PM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Saturday, 7 October 2006

Double Standards for Democrats

Last week, Lucas was meeting with the editorial board of the Kentucky post when he made the following statement about U.S. Rep. Mark Foley.

"Those folks (in leadership) had plenty of warning about what was going on," Lucas told the paper. "It was common knowledge that Foley was a gay man. To me, when people in positions of leadership saw things around the edges, that should've raised red flags," he said.

First off, this is a really ignorant comment. Anyone running for office should know better than to make comments like that. But imagine the outrage and the scope and power of this story if a Republican uttered those words. I can see the story lines right now. There would be demonstrations and every famous left wing activist would be on television denouncing his comments and asking for his resignation. We would have endless stories on the insensitivity of Republicans. Blah blah blah.

So where is the outrage from the hyper sensitive left wing?

"We have no plans to keep this story alive," Fairness Alliance communications director Misty York said in an e-mail yesterday. "It would be up to the candidates themselves to direct the public conversation."

Wow, the silence is deafening!

See the real reason this isn't a story is because Lucas is a Democrat. And we don't want to hurt the Democrat's chances of winning in the fall. The double standard of the MSM and liberal activists (is there a difference?) in their treatment of Democrats and Republicans borders on the surreal sometimes. This is one of those cases.

Posted by elendil at 10:02 AM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Democrats a Little Short on Cash

In a show of weakness, the Democratic Party is considering taking out a $500,000 bank loan to boost its finances for next month's elections. Hoping to repay it from the returns on a fund raiser featuring Bill Clinton at the end of the month.

But the revelation about the loan underscores the difficulties the Democratic Party has had with money. Three months ago, it reported just $61,000 in its main bank accounts.

The Kentucky Republican Party, by way of comparison, showed roughly $700,000 at its disposal.

It is unbelievable that only 10 years ago the Democratic party dominated the political landscape of Kentucky and completely controlled the money. Now they are just scraping by, while the Republicans enjoy a large financial bankroll. It just illustrates how Democrats in Kentucky are quickly fading toward a minority status in this state.

Ironically, it is the liberal base of the national party, Bill and Hillary Clinton, that has been the biggest fund raisers for Democrats in Kentucky. The same people who's left wing policies on the national scene that have moved Democrats towards a minority status in the Commonwealth.

Posted by elendil at 9:45 AM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Thursday, 5 October 2006

Fletcher's Administration Continues to Get the Job Done

The Fletcher Administration's innovations in dealing with the Medicaid problem are being held up as a model for other states.

Advocates for Medicaid also have positive things to say about Fletcher's handling of the issue.

Cathy Allgood Murphy, associate state director of AARP-Kentucky, said she is cautious because many of the details have yet to be filled in, but "overall, I can't complain about the job they've done."
Donovan Fornwalt, director of governmental affairs for Kentucky's Council on Mental Retardation ... praised Fletcher's efforts. "I think this governor has been much more effective," Fornwalt said, "than many folks give him credit for."

I am glad to see the Fletcher team is continuing to get the job done. They have truly brought in fresh ideas for managing this state and we are beginning to see the results.

Posted by elendil at 8:47 AM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Fletcher is Unelectable

Fletcher is Unelectable! That was the hue and cry a month ago from both Democrats and Republicans. For someone who is so "unelectable" he sure has raised a good bit of money.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher has collected more than $1 million for his re-election bid since having to start his fund-raising over in June with new running mate Robbie Rudolph.

About $722,000 of that has come in the last three months, according to campaign finance reports filed this afternoon with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.

What we have seen is an over reaction from both Democrats and Republicans to Fletcher's woes. Someone who is unelectable should not be able to raise one million dollars over the last three months. So what does this mean politically?

He has too much money on hand now to be challenged in the primary. There is no way Pence will run against him now. The money advantage is too great for him to overcome this late in the game. Maybe that is why he decided to wait until after this year's general election. He wanted to see the money situation.

This also has to be a bit daunting for the Democrats as well. Their reluctance to file is putting them further and further behind the money race. Fletcher already has a million dollar head start on them in next year's race. I have a feeling Fletcher may not be as "unelectable" as his opponents have hoped.

Posted by elendil at 8:37 AM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Give It Back

Lexington's fiscal year ended last June and it appears they had a surplus of around $17.8 million dollars. Mayor Isaac wants to spend $7.3 million for water drainage projects and pay equality for city employees. The article drones on about how the mayor and council want to spend the surplus.

Here is a novel idea they may want to try. Why not give it back to the taxpayers? I know this is crazy, but if you have extra money that means you took too much in the first place. Why not give it back? Just for once I would love to hear a politicians say "Well, we have a surplus and I am going to give it back to the taxpayers who we over taxed."

But that isn't going to happen. Instead they act like kids in a candy store. They can't spend it fast enough.

Posted by elendil at 8:24 AM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Wednesday, 4 October 2006

Louisville Police Chief Should Resign

Robert White, the Louisville Police Chief, should resign. He is an absolute disgrace to the men and women that he supposedly leads. Why? Because he can't even support the members of his own force when they do the right thing!

Let's set the stage. You are a police officer who is called to the local roller skating rink to deal with a fight. You arrive on the scene and see between 700-800 youths milling around. You try to take control of the area and the kids start to get hostile. They are throwing rocks at you and one of them attempts to take your gun. The crowd is becoming "very unruly". What would you do?

I know what I would do. I would attempt to disperse the crowd before a riot occurs. That is exactly what the cops did. They were greatly out numbered and used the only non-lethal tool in their arsenal. Pepper spray.

And guess what? The officers were cleared for doing the right thing. So what does their police chief do? He stabs them in the back!

Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert White apologized Tuesday night to a frustrated crowd of parents and children over a decision to use pepper spray Saturday night on a crowd of youths gathered at a roller rink.

...

White promised a full investigation into the incident at Robben's Roost skating rink, 5906 Six Mile Lane, where police confronted between 700 to 800 youths.

...

White acknowledged the use of pepper spray could have been avoided and encouraged those in attendance to file complaints against officers to help in the internal investigation.

Way to stand up for your officers! They did the right thing and you are basically calling them out for messing up the situation. How hard is it to tell the parents that their kids were in the wrong and the officers did exactly what they should have done? To do anything else is a complete disgrace. I think White should resign so we can bring in a leader who will actually stand up for the officers he or she leads.

Unfortunately, he is the hand puppet of Abramson. The only way we can get rid of him is to elect Downard mayor. Downard has already agreed he to replace White as police chief if elected. If Abramson doesn't replace White, the people of Louisville need to replace Abramson. The cops on the streets deserve nothing less.

Posted by elendil at 12:26 AM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)

Tuesday, 3 October 2006

More Bad News for Yarmuth

John Yarmuth is having a bad month.

First off, Rep Anne Northup has a lot larger campaign war chest than Yarmuth. She is dipping into that advantage to define Yarmuth as the ultra-liberal that he is. And she is using his own words to do it. Between his editorials in the LEO and his claims in the primary, Northup has a gold mine of material in which to highlight Yarmuth's liberalism. To compound problems, Yarmuth has tried denying her claims only to have the Northup team provide video or written evidence to the contrary.

His slim chance of winning this race is quickly heading to none. No better evidence of his fading chances than the refusal of the DCCC's leadership to infuse his campaign with much needed cash.

He and his team considered Yarmuth's case. The district is a tough one to win, even though Kerry carried it in 2004. Yarmuth owned a local magazine in which he published articles that might cause controversy. ("Rahm had read all of those articles before last December, when I first met him," Yarmuth says.) Perhaps most important, Yarmuth is independently wealthy. Scorn does not begin to describe Emanuel's response to the idea, as he put it, "of giving money to a multimillionaire." Yarmuth was not invited to join the entourage.

Ouch! If the DCCC doesn't believe Yarmuth can win the race, I think it is safe to assume he won't.

Posted by elendil at 12:08 AM in Kentucky Politics
Responses (0)