Gun Battle Coming Soon To Kentucky

After the confiscation of guns only from law-abiding citizens in New Orleans following Katrina, the National Rifle Association is pressing police chiefs and mayors across the nation to promise such a thing will never happen in their cities.

This could play a major role in the Lexington mayor's race. I can't imagine Teresa Isaac making such a promise. Jim Newberry, what say you?

How To Reform A GOP Tax And Spend Mess?

Ken Blackwell is running for Governor of Ohio. He is a conservative Republican and a very good candidate. The only problem is he is running to replace two-term Republican Governor Bob Taft.

Blackwell is running to reduce Ohio's high tax rates and cut back spending.

Interesting.

Crime in Russell County

Prayer.

There is hope for these kids!

I can't imagine where the ACLU finds a violation of anyone's constitutional rights in a high school graduation prayer, but this one is not going away. We've got football games coming up soon.

Call it the ACLU tax. When small towns or counties have to defend themselves against left-wing atheist attacks from the ACLU, the innocent people have to pay.

This underscores the need for conservative judges.

KY Supreme Court Ruling: Like Kissing Your Sister

I don't think we should be using the word "vindicated" with regard to anything that comes out of the merit hiring fiasco, much less yesterday's ruling that previously pardoned people can not now be indicted.

You want to talk vindication? Fine. Let's start talking about candidates who can oust the scandal-plagued Greg Stumbo as AG.

Tim Feeley should get the nod. The top law enforcement officer in the state needs to be someone who has broad bipartisan respect and the ability to rise above politics and rancid shenanigans and just do the job.

We need an Attorney General who we don't have to worry about what he is doing, who he is doing it with, and whether or not he gets "lost at sea."

Fahrenheit 40356

Mike Moore is mad at me.

No, not that Michael Moore, just the editor of the Jessamine Journal in Nicholasville. It seems he got a little upset over this post on Kentucky Progress.

Actually, he got more than just a little upset. He came completely unglued and wasted a lot of ink barking at me from the editorial page of today's Journal. Mr. Moore is new to town and doesn't know me very well. I'm just getting warmed up, so he should probably stay twisted up for quite a while. Can it be long before -- like his Hollywood namesake -- Mr. Moore starts following me around with a video camera?

Roll tape!

You Want Some Cheese To Go With That?

The Lexington Herald Leader Editorial Page starts off the day with a big glass of whine.

They are upset at Rep. Joe Barrows for depriving Democrat primary voters in the 56th of a vigorous primary to replace him.

Barrows conspired with fellow Dem Carl Rollins, a weak candidate, rather than admit his plans and encourage others to join the race.

I suspect they are mainly upset that Republican Kevin Locke will win the seat and make the 56th a key pick-up for the GOP.

Columnist Says Fletcher Is Finished

John David Dyche says Governor Fletcher should drop out of the 2007 election.

There is no way to deny Ernie's political fortunes have taken a huge hit in the last year. We've reached the point that Republican gains in the state House and Senate this fall can help Republicans without helping the Governor. That is a stark reality, if not an iron-clad case for scrambling for a new candidate at the top of the ticket. A more immediate priority -- and maybe even a better move -- should be filling out the ticket for the rest of the constitutional offices. If we have learned nothing else, we should know that holding the Attorney General's office is not only important, but might speed up the demise of the decaying Democratic Party in Kentucky. With any number of accomplished attorneys, the Republican party could put up a candidate to run rings around the baggage-laden Greg Stumbo. Then we could dare other elected officials to say how great Stumbo is in front of a camera. I'm betting there would be precious few takers.

A Republican AG could do more to clean up the Democrat bloodsport of merit system abuse than a Republican Governor ever could.

Auditor and Attorney General should be Republicans' top priorities for 2007. As a trade for Governor? Maybe, maybe not. But we can't reasonably deny that we should be having this conversation.

Another One Bites The Dust

Liberal extremist David Wilson won a recanvass of the Garrard County Judge Executive race this morning in the Democratic primary over incumbent E.J. Hasty.

That means Republican John Wilson is a shoo-in in November.

Sea Change In Jessamine County

Yeah, it's just little old Jessamine county, but it is growing fast and quickly becoming a GOP county. Sammy Brown's decisive victory in the primary for Sheriff bodes well for a win this November against a weak Dem opponent. With County Attorney Brian Goettl unopposed, the make-up of the courthouse is changing. Wilmore is already very conservative and, while Sam Corman looks likely to regain his mayoral post, the city commission could be tough for him to deal with. Expect Chris Moore and Betty Black to win this fall. One more good commissioner and they will control city hall.

And the coming revival of the Lexington Water Takeover will invigorate conservatives in all the contiguous counties.

Failure To Skewer Rove Cracking Up AP Reporter

This is the most pathetic attempt to write a hit piece on Karl Rove or any other public figure I have ever seen from a "professional" reporter.

It's a good thing that, unlike bloggers, reporters like Deb "I can read Rove's mind" Riechmann have layers of editors to keep mindless drivel from making its way out into the public domain.

Election Night Surprise

Lexingtonians of all political stripes will be talking Wednesday about Tuesday night's election party at Fayette Republican HQ.

Anyone care to guess what the hot topic of conversation will be?

Richmond Register Jumps Into The Fray

Central Kentucky election officials are used to watching area voters show up at the polls with Lexington Herald-Leader endorsements in hand, ready to vote against the paper's recommendations.

The paper's predictable calls work like this: pick the weakest Republican candidate in the primary and pick the Democrat in the fall. Case in point: the Herald-Leader endorsed Steve Nunn just prior to his 3rd place finish for Governor in 2003. This year, they endorsed Albert Spencer, a good candidate and a very good man, who is nonetheless ill-equipped to handle the vicious, dirty campaigning tactics of Sen. Ed Worley.

For the first time, The Richmond Register today endorsed candidates for election. In stark contrast to the Herald Leader, they chose to support the stronger Republican candidate -- former Senator Barry Metcalf.

Interestingly, they also suggested voters bring a new Sheriff to town, replacing an incumbent. Also, they counsel keeping a popular and efficient county clerk.

Money Monday: Give A Little, Get A Lot

Today is a great day to donate $10, $20, $50, $100 or more to Kentucky Votes. They are the folks who sort through the muck to put General Assembly votes online. They are currently leading the fight to give the public greater access to committee votes. The futile resistance they are getting from hapless House Speaker Jody Richards won't stop them, but your donation will help.

Go here and give a little green. You will feel better when you do. I did.

Ben Chandler For Governor?

Ryan Alessi's Herald-Leader column this morning about the Governor's race mentioned Ben Chandler's name a dozen times.

Meanwhile, Chandler's comfort in his Congressional office might come back to bite him when he tries for another run at the Mansion.

Just last week he voted to raise your taxes, abort more babies, and cut missile defense spending.

Good thing he represents only the shrieking minority of Congress and doesn't speak for the people of Kentucky, don't you agree?

2006 Political Trump Card: Economy And Taxes

Click here for some perspective on the economy and taxes.

And yes, Ben Chandler voted again to raise your taxes. Too bad he is running unopposed this year.

Jessamine Countians For Jim Newberry

Lexington mayoral candidate Jim Newberry wants to add a sales tax onto purchases made in Fayette county.

As a resident of neighboring Jessamine county, I think that sounds great. Y'all come on down and make your purchases in Nicholasville!

Of course, I'm kidding. Lexington is the engine for the region and we don't need to see them take a hit like this. If you live in Lexington, do the right thing and vote for Bill Farmer.

"No Comment" Would Have Been A Lot Better

"We would prefer that the governor not appear and deprive Greg Stumbo the satisfaction of making the governor do a perp walk. That's unbecoming of the office of the governor. Especially for a measly misdemeanor," Fletcher spokesman Brett Hall said.

Andrew Horne Wades In Over His Head

Greg Stumbo is, uh, "stuck out on the sand bar overnight" again. This time, though, we know who he had with him.

Third district Congressional candidate Andrew Horne has joined AG Stumbo in an ill-advised attack on Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

Horne campaign volunteer Shawn Reilly is being used as a pawn by people who support voter fraud. This whole thing started when Grayson's office joined with South Carolina and Tennessee to compare voter registration databases and clear out people who were registered in more than one state. Reilly had moved from Kentucky to South Carolina. This move invalidated his Kentucky voter registration. It got a little tricky when he moved back to Kentucky. But what the Stumbo/Horne people don't want you to know is that this would not have prevented Reilly from voting in the May 16 Democrat primary. There are well-established procedures that would have quickly corrected the oversight. Interestingly, it is Reilly's own error in registering as a Republican that will keep him from voting for Horne or any other Democrat on Tuesday.

So when Stumbo spokeswoman Vicki Glass said "there are going to be a lot of Shawn Reillys out there," we must assume that she is talking about people who are trying to vote in the wrong primary and not about the silly lawsuit that has the AG and Horne all worked up now.

Incidentally, Stumbo and Horne were just about to start a joint press conference at the Jefferson county clerk's office when they were informed that doing so would be illegal electioneering.

Oops!

Today is Day 1092 of wishing Kentucky had elected Tim Feeley as Attorney General.

Newberry Strikes Back: "HillaryCare Not All Bad"

Mayoral hopeful Jim Newberry (Liberal #2) must be getting nervous. He has unleashed an attack ad on conservative candidate Bill Farmer.

In the ad, Newberry tries to spin his work in support of the health insurane mandates that destroyed Kentucky's individual insurance market twelve years ago.

For the record, the HillaryCare analogy really fits.

Conservative voters in Lexington really just have one choice this year.

Jessamine Newspaper Too Afraid To Print This

Jessamine County Sheriff's Captain Kevin Corman has quietly been shopping a plan to hand over the law enforcement duties of the Sheriff's office to the Nicholasville Police Department.

It isn't a new idea, but the fact that the Democrat nominee and heir apparent to Sheriff Joe Walker is discussing consolidation makes it worth asking about.

Interestingly, when questioned directly about his idea, Corman launched a distorted attack on the plan to spread citizen representation evenly across town with a Nicholasville City Council. He then denied that he wants all the salary that comes with election to the office but little of the responsibility that normally comes with the job.

(Note to reader: skeptical newspaper columnists love it when targets answer a direct question with dodges and unrelated political attacks. Kind of like waving a bloody shirt in front of a charging bull.)

Captain Corman might want to get better at answering questions before this fall, but an analysis of his years on the Sheriff's department suggests he lacks the experience necessary to really benefit public safety. All this might explain somewhat why four Republican candidates signed up for the chance to run against him.

After many years of picking Jessamine county's elected officials in the May primaries, registered Democrats eager for a law enforcement upgrade will have to wait to see who Republicans vote for in Tuesday's election.

Fortunately for all of us, three of the four candidates running in the Republican primary have some qualifications that suggest preparation for the job. But limited media coverage of the race has relegated what is easily 2006's most important countywide contest to a yard sign counting competition. That is a shame.

The job of primary voters is to choose their party's best chance to get elected in the November election. That charge would best be met this year by voting for Deputy Sammy Brown.

The Democrat nominee is a political appointee to the position of Captain. As Jessamine county growth brings more law enforcement challenges to the area, the time for partisan favoritism is past. Nevertheless, the fall campaign will be fierce -- and probably will get nasty. The most important base to cover is to nominate someone who knows the needs of the department. As a current Deputy, Brown can best fill the bill. This basic fact should keep voters focussed when the mud starts flying.

Deputy Brown earned the 2002 National Deputy of the Year Award. He won the award for keeping his cool on the morning of November 13, 2001 when all hell broke loose in Jessamine county.

Deputy Brown was serving a warrant with two other officers when the man they were pursuing opened fire with an M-1 carbine rifle at close range. Brown was hit with three shots and Deputy Billy Ray Walls and Captain Chuck Morgan were killed. Deputy Brown stopped the shooter and struggled to get to his car to radio for help.

At the time, Brown was only thirty years old and had been on the job a grand total of five months. He had already been awarded three letters of commendation.

Deputy Brown says that his first actions as Sheriff would be to put more officers on the street and to pursue grant money available to the department. The Sheriff's department already has the money for three additional deputies but, in an act of sheer political gamesmanship, Corman is promising jobs for after the election rather than filling them now. Poor recordkeeping in the Jessamine county department explains our inability to gain grants, a staple in well-run departments.

Jessamine county Republicans would do very well to vote for Sammy Brown on Tuesday. In a low turnout off-year election, every vote will count. And in this race, we can't afford for your voice to go unheard.