Elected Officials Should Show Up to the Town Halls

I was disappointed that Sen. Marco Rubio announced that he will not attend town halls because the left will show up and scream at him.

It doesn't matter. Suck it up and go; it's part of the job. Not going looks cowardly.

Sen. Tim Scott gives a better example of how to handle the town halls:  show up, but be smart. Lay some ground rules. Scott prohibited the use of signs and asked for questions to be written. Scott is relentlessly polite even to those who seek to vilify him. Eventually, he either wears people down or wins them over.

I think it's also reasonable for the town halls to be limited to actual constituents who live in the district rather than astroturf that's been brought in from outside.

It's important for Republicans to understand, however, that not all of these protesters are paid astroturf. Some are voters who are still irate that their side lost. It would be a mistake to not recognize that this mindset extends, for example, to leftists here in Jefferson County.

Republicans better get cracking on the repeal and replacement of Obamacare, or else they will start to see protests at town halls -- from the right.

ICYMI: My C-J Column on "Blue Lives Matter" Bill

Reprinted with permission of the Courier-Journal, and apologies for the format - I will try to fix later.

The Kentucky House last week demonstrated that sometimes the best intentions can lead to bad and unnecessary laws. Take House Bill 14, a bill to extend Kentucky’s hate crime law to first responders: police, firefighters and EMTs.

Currently, Kentucky’s hate crime statute provides for a judge to impose stiffer sentences for offenses committed against a person or property because of the victim’s race, color, religion, sexual orientation or national origin. But not yet first responders.

First responders risk their lives to keep us safe. The overwhelming majority are people of integrity — legitimate heroes. They deserve our respect and gratitude. The desire to pass legislation that honors them is understandable.

Louisiana was the first state in the country to enact a “blue lives matter” amendment to its hate crime statute after police officers were ambushed there. House Bill 14 sponsor Rep. Kevin Bratcher (R-Louisville), however, resists that label as divisive

The bill passed 77-13 with one abstention from Rep. Phil Moffett (R-Louisville). And on On this issue, Moffett is spot on.

Moffett wrote on Facebook that he opposed the bill “not because I have any level of disregard for first responders. I appreciate them all. Their service is absolutely necessary, and during protracted periods of time, unappreciated.

“I abstained because hate crimes are unconstitutional in my opinion. Hate is thought. Making certain thoughts a crime is antithetical to personal liberty and freedom. If we can’t think freely, can we really speak freely? I don’t believe so.”Moffett also pointed out the difficulty of applying the law consistently and the impossibility of measuring hate. He stated his preference that all hate crimes be taken off the books

Moffett also pointed out the difficulty of applying the law consistently and the impossibility of measuring hate. He stated his preference that all hate crimes be taken off the booksFirst responders protect us from violence to our person or property so that we can live our lives peacefully and free to pursue our own particular vision of happiness, so long as it’s lawful.

Equal protection under the law, moreover, requires first responders treat the public with neither favoritism nor discrimination.

Too Bad About Michael Flynn

I'm glad that Michael Flynn resigned quickly. Once it became clear that he had given wrong information to Vice President Mike Pence, it was inevitable that he had to go.

Hopefully it ends here.

And for all those Dems who are chomping at the impeachment bit -- do they not understand that Pence is even more conservative than President Trump?  Indeed, he's more conservative than just about anyone. Someone should warn the Dems to be careful what they wish for.

It's kind of like when the Dems were salivating, first for Trump to run, and second for him to win the Republican nomination. How'd that work out for ya?

Why I Cheered For Tom Brady

Normally, I don't care much for professional football. This year, however, I cheered for Tom Brady and the Patriots because I was offended at the left's attempt to force Brady to disclaim his friendship with President Donald Trump. Likewise for the Patriot's owner, Robert Kraft.

An essential component of liberty is that people can be friends with whomever they choose. That's why freedom of association is included in the first amendment. It's entirely inappropriate, therefore, for the political correctness police to tell Brady and Kraft that they cannot be friends with Trump.

Good for Brady and Kraft for not succumbing to that pressure.

The irony is that if their relationship with Trump had been something other than platonic, the left would protest any interference with it as homophobic.  For some reason, the left extends a tolerance to sexual differences that it will not extend to ideological differences.

I don't know anything about Brady's or Kraft's politics. I don't take their friendship with Trump to necessarily endorse everything he says or does. Friends can agree to disagree, to keep certain subjects off the table.

That's becoming increasingly difficult to do, because when it comes to Trump, liberals are like a dog with a bone. They cannot let it go.

UC Berkely's Stuck in the 1960's

The demonstrations at UC Berkely last night in response to Milo Yiannopolous's scheduled speech looked like a throw-back to the anti-war protests of the 1960's.

The left was trying to shut down Milo's speech -- more of the free speech for me, but not for thee we've come to expect from progressives. These people demand tolerance for everything except an opposing viewpoint.

As I watched the anarchists literally try to burn everything down, I couldn't help but think that the school should lose its federal funding. When I clicked on the Daily Caller this morning and read that President Donald Trump had threatened to do just that, it was like he was reading my mind. That's a large part of why Trump was elected; he frequently says what ordinary people are thinking.

No, I'm not talking about the gaffes or the Billy Bush interviews. I think that because he has not spent his professional life as a politician, he reacts to things viscerally the way regular people do.

God Bless Judge Gorsuch

I was thrilled with President Trump's nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Any of the judge's on Trump's list of 21 would have been outstanding. I particularly like the way Judge Gorsuch writes -- which was one of my favorite things about Scalia. Likewise for Kentucky's own Judge Amul Thapar, who not only made the list of 21 but in fact made it to the final four; he also has a way with words that transforms an otherwise dry legal opinion.

I am one of the many voters for whom the Supreme Court was the most important issue in casting my vote for president. Trump kept his promise.

And I expect he will do so again after the end of the Supreme Court's term this June.

I was similarly impressed by the announcement last night. It was very dignified. The presence of Maureen Scalia was poignant, and yet it was upbeat. It felt historic.

MY C-J Column in Which I March Off the Feminist Reservation

Reprinted with permission of the Courier-Journal. Drawing all sorts of hate on Twitter, etc.  Liberals cannot stand a conservative woman who does not adhere to feminist orthodoxy.

The Women’s March on Washington and copycat marches last week consisted of thousands of women of good will and an indeterminate number of moonbats. They marched notwithstanding that American women have it much better than millions of women around the world. If the marchers had been men, progressives would have told them to “check their privilege.”

Instead, the marchers promoted the falsehood that American women are downtrodden victims. Someone remind these women that it has been illegal for employers to pay women less than men for the same work for 50 years.

Many women drove themselves to the march or came by Metro. That would not be possible in Saudi Arabia, where women are forbidden to drive or even ride mass transit. Nor can they wear make-up, mix with men to whom they are not related, swim, play sports or try on clothes before buying.

If Ashley Judd and Madonna truly want to demonstrate how gutsy they are, they should go to Saudi Arabia to reprise their speeches from the march. Of course, only men would see them. And Judd and Madonna would just confirm the Saudis’ assessment of America’s depraved culture.

To anyone who misconstrues Judd and Madonna as exemplifying American women, know this:  they do not represent most of us. Indeed, many of us are embarrassed by them. Portions of Judd’s “nasty woman” speech were so lewd and disgusting that I cannot even quote it. Yet she complains about language that disrespects people.

Question for the University of Kentucky:  are you sure you still want to feature Judd at your basketball games? It would be interesting to know how much, if anything, Judd donates to UK for those great seats.

Question for Ashley Judd: will you reconsider your decision not to run for office as a Democrat in Kentucky?  Please?

Women appeared to march for an array of issues that animate the left: Obamacare, immigration, LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, abortion, climate change, equal pay.

The timing of the march — the day after the inauguration — reflected outrage that Hillary Clinton lost the election. Leftists attribute that loss to sexism, rather than the reality that Clinton was a terrible candidate who wanted to recycle failed policies.

It’s disappointing to lose a hard-fought election. But if Romney or McCain supporters had marched to “resist” the election of President Barack Obama, they would have been labeled racists.

Judging from the signs in the coverage of the march, many marchers support abortion rights and federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Indeed, pro-life organizations were banned from partnering with the march’s organization. That made clear that the march was not intended to and did not reflect the broad, diverse viewpoints of women.

On the other side of the world, China still limits the number of children parents can have. While some American women march for the right to “terminate” unborn babies, Chinese women are denied the right to have as many babies as they want — and the right to protest.

► Read: Peaceful march in D.C., but with a call to action

Back at the march, those hand-knit pink “pussy hats” that the marchers wore made a great visual, especially in the aerial photos. The hats were intended to contrast with the red “Make America Great Again” hats worn by Trump supporters, and to allude to the Billy Bush interview. To each her own, I suppose.

And then there were the women who wore costumes of giant vaginas in need of a bikini wax. It’s an odd choice for women who complain about being objectified and supposedly want to be taken seriously.

Imagine the left’s reaction if Clinton had won and men marched dressed as giant penises. Of course, it would never happen. And that’s the difference between the two parties. No wonder the radical left doesn’t play so well in middle America.

► Read: For Kentucky women, D.C. march just the start

Those vagina costumes and “pussy hats” must have taken a lot of time and effort to make. For those who are not crafty, a one-size-fits-all vagina costume may be purchased for $149 online. What a luxury to have spare time and money for such accouterments.

Compare that to the lives of women in developing countries who spend their days looking for food and clean water, trying to avoid becoming victims of genital mutilation or human trafficking, just wanting to worship free from persecution.

The women in the giant vagina costumes have exalted a body part to a symbol, but they have failed to articulate what it’s supposed to symbolize. Fortunately, not everyone with “lady parts” embraces this left-wing ideology. That’s why, in the end, the march changed nothing. Clinton still lost.