My C-J Column on Bevin's Prison Reform

My most recent column is up in print in today's C-J:  Reprinted with permission:

A great deal of energy goes into the debate about whose lives matter in criminal justice. But perhaps too much focus has been on the front end — the arrest of the criminal — and not enough on what should be the back end — his rehabilitation. Kentucky’s burgeoning prison population reflects that we do a good job catching, convicting and incarcerating criminals, but a lousy job preparing them to re-enter free society.

Gov. Matt Bevin is doing something about this by forming Criminal Justice Policy and Assessment Council.

Bevin explained the need for the council: “We must continue to hold people accountable for their crimes, but also find ways to cut re-offense rates, improve reentry after incarceration, increase drug treatment and effectively treat mental illness – all while helping victims and improving public safety.”

The composition of this council illustrates Bevin’s pragmatic and innovative style of governance. This is not business as usual in Frankfort.

The council includes professionals from all levels of the criminal justice system: prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, a former FBI special agent and a jailor, among others.

It’s bipartisan and includes both rural and urban legislators. That improves the odds that its eventual recommendations will become law.

Most encouraging, Bevin included several members of the clergy. Criminal justice reform should include an element of grace and redemption. It should manifest that most American of values – the hope for a better life – and its corollary: we are the land of second chances.

Local churches and faith-based groups like Prodigal Ministries can play an important role in supporting inmates in becoming law-abiding – and tax-paying – members of the community.

Violent criminals should go to prison for punishment and to deter others, but not all crimes are violent. Further, incarceration is expensive; Kentucky spent nearly half a billion dollars on corrections last year. The high number of people who return to prison suggests that this model is not working. Simply put, it’s not a good return on our tax dollars.

Kentucky houses nearly 24,000 inmates. That’s up from 15,000 in 2000. The heroin epidemic will surely increase that number further. Unless the trend is reversed, Kentucky will have to build more prisons that we cannot afford.

Releasing a heroin addict who has not dealt with his addiction often results in that individual getting rearrested. This cycle is expensive for taxpayers and devastating in human terms. Every prisoner, after all, is someone’s family member – maybe their parent.

Far better to treat the mentally ill and addicted, perhaps with community-based treatment, than to simply warehouse them.

Bevin promised in his inaugural address to see what other states are doing well and then copy their successes. To that end, the council can take the concept  “tough on crime” and update it to make Kentucky “smart on crime,” by using data-driven solutions from states like Texas.

The prison population in Texas had tripled from 1990 to 2010; the price for the new prisons necessary to hold all these people would have been $2.5 billion.

So Texas instead invested a fraction of that cost into drug courts to divert non-violent drug offenders into community-based treatment. It focused on rehabilitation to help reentry. The results: a 14 percent drop in the state’s prison population and a 29 percent reduction in crime. That is, Texas found a model that saved money, improved safety and gave former inmates with the desire a new trajectory for their lives.

States around the country have replicated the Texas results. The Pew Safety Performance Project found that the 10 states with the largest drops in imprisonment rates cut their crime rates by 13 percent on average.

It’s a little counter-intuitive. One would think that fewer people in prison would mean more criminals on the streets. Here’s the missing piece that Kentucky needs to include: Public policies that turn lives around reduce the crime rate by cutting recidivism.

Former inmates who cannot find a job upon their release resort to old familiar patterns that land them back in jail. The cycle cannot be broken without jobs.  However, two-thirds of ex-inmates still don’t have a job one year after they’ve served their sentence. That’s where the private and non-profit sector can help.

The American Printing House for the Blind is setting an example for Kentucky employers to hire released inmates. Its pilot program uses ex-convicts who received Braille training in prison to work as book transcribers after they leave prison.

Likewise, the Charles Koch Institute has developed a Prison Entrepreneurship Program that teaches business classes and culminates in a business plan competition. It gives inmates who so desire the skills and support to work for themselves.

Bevin has seized an opportunity to transform Kentucky, one life at a time by focusing on its most important resource: our peopl

C-J Endorses Conway (Yawn)

This endorsement is about as unexpected as LiLo going back to rehab.

Is it too late for someone to start a paper to compete with the Courier-Journal? Sure, newspapers are dying. But that old watch-dog role that the media like to claim functions best with actual competition. The C-J has been reduced to an apologist for the Democratic Party; it provides no accountability.

Where is Sun Myung Moon when you need him? The Washington Post became a much better paper with a little competition from the Moonies. Maybe it's not too late to turn the C-J around -- but only if someone will make it fight for the scarce time of its (dwindling) readership.

C-J Truth-Checks Rand

Courier-Journal coverage of the Jefferson County Lincoln Day dinner corrected Dr. Rand Paul's attempt to sound less eccentric on the issue of Gitmo detainees.

Joe Gerth writes that the Grayson campaign called Paul to account for a quote he made last summer, when Paul said that the administration should take the Gitmo detainees and "drop them back off in Afghanistan, it'll take them awhile to get back over here."

Paul, according to Gerth, called Trey Grayson "intellectually dishonest"for taking the quote out of context. Paul maintains that he only wants to send those Gitmo detainees back from whence they came if they cannot be convicted.

Gerth's analysis: "Paul's summary of the question was correct, but then he got into a bit of trouble when he claimed that the question was limited to Chinese Muslims, called Uighurs. . . . A video of the interview doesn't back that up. Paul went from talking about border policy to Guantanamo Bay and Uighurs were never mentioned."

Even with Paul's "context," it's still a bizarre remark.

Paul never explains why he assumes that the detainees cannot be convicted. Does he really believe that these thugs in Gitmo are innocent?

Probably not, because he tries to reassure us that it will "take them awhile to get back over here." In essence, Paul's plan for keeping us safe merely buys us time -- postpones the inevitable attack from terrorists with a very high recidivism rate. Case in point: the Christmas Day Bomber was trained by a Gitmo graduate. Paul fails to grasp the danger of his own proposal. The issue is not how long it will take these terrorists to "get back over here." We don't want them free to attack us, not tomorrow, not next year, not ever.

Paul's Gitmo deportation idea hearkens back to the American Colonization Society's plans to send slaves to Liberia before the Civil War -- solve the political problem of slavery by just getting the slaves out of America. If they are Over There, we don't have to think about them any more. That is not to analogize innocent slaves to terrorists but rather to point out that as with slavery, the issue is too complex for a pat answer; too much has happened with the enemy combatants to simply give them a boat ride back. The American Colonization Society, like Paul, was well-intentioned, but naive.

Here's Paul's now-famous YouTube video on sending back the boys from Gitmo.

C-J's Freudian Slip

Joe Gerth has been dutifully reporting the attacks between the campaigns of Attorney General Jack Conway and Lieut. Gov. Dan Mongiardo in their bids for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Lots of stalkers with camcorders filming each other. Now an accusation that Mongiardo is blurring the line between his official and campaign events, improperly excluding Conway's campaign staff.

Check out Gerth's coverage of the Kentucky Society of Health System's Pharmacists in Lexington:

Mongiardo's lieutenant governor's office sent out a notice last week announcing that Mongiardo would be speaking at them. [Emphasis added.]

After the primary, Mongiardo won't have anybody to speak at.

The Hawpester Retires

The Courier-Journal has confirmed what has been rumored for weeks: David Hawpe will retire. It is appropriate, given Hawpe's 40-year tenure with the C-J, that the paper let Hawpe retire rather than can him with its most recent batch of terminations. We wish him all the best in his retirement.

It's hard to imagine the Courier-Journal without David Hawpe -- sort of like Nightmare on Elm Street without Freddy Krueger. Hawpe personified a love for big government liberalism and a commensurate hatred of anything or anyone conservative or Republican. To his credit, however, he did it as a pundit rather than under the guise of any supposed objectivity. And he can write.

One weird piece of Hawpe trivia: when Bill Murray was in Kentucky to film Stripes, he stayed at Hawpe's former home in Anchorage.

Hawpe says that "he has no specific plans for retirement but is considering writing a book or two, teaching, doing volunteer work and involving himself in political campaigns that reflect his philosophy." (Emphasis added.)

John Yarmuth and Jack Conway, you have been forewarned.

Joe Gerth Mocks Bunning

Joe Gerth from the Courier-Journal has taken his investigative skills to Sen. Jim Bunning's campaign site, and results would be funny if they weren't so pathetic. Bunning's campaign site looks slick enough at first glance, replete with photos and endorsements.

And there's a nice letter from Bunning that says, "Almost six years ago, Kentuckians elected me to serve them in the U.S. Senate and I have been privileged to represent them. It was a competitive and close race that came down to the final stretch, but we won the open seat by a mere 6,766 votes."

Six years ago? 6,766 votes? He won relection four years ago. By nearly 23,000 votes.

Wait a minute.

And those endoresements are from the 2004 election.

This website hasn't been updated in four years.

Why does his wife allow him to persist in this alleged campaign? Or has Mrs. Bunning tried to talk some sense into her husband and he refuses to listen to her (as he does everyone else)?

Somebody, please make him stop.

Courier-Journal Endorses Lunsford

And in other news, dog bites man.

Yarmuth and Chandler Are Exempt From The C-J's Criticism Of House Vote

The Courier-Journal today takes to task the House Republicans who voted against the bailout legislation on Monday:

Particularly galling was the defection of most House Republicans, who generally explained their opposition to the bailout either as a matter of principle or accused the Democrats of causing its defeat.

Nonsense. The notion of a principled stand has no application to the House GOP, which has acquiesced to the Bush administration on ruinous tax cuts, the unnecessary war in Iraq and condoning torture. This resistance to a Bush measure was a craven attempt to play to the anti-bailout mood of the public, which will prove temporary once the pain cuts more broadly.

In contrast, the C-J makes no mention of Congressmen John Yarmuth and Ben Chandler -- both Democrats who also voted no.

One would think from reading the C-J's editorial that House Republicans controlled the fate of the bill on Monday. Except that, last time we checked, the Democrats have the majority in Congress -- and, unlike in the Senate, the Republicans have no filibuster power in the House.

It would be nice if the C-J would at least place some blame on the Democrats at least some of the time for the nation's ills. Count on Obama putting lipstick on a flying pig before that happens.

Update: On Politico's list of Congressmen who may change their vote from nay to aye, neither Yarmuth nor Chandler is mentioned. Nor is any other member of the Kentucky delegation. So much for the influence of the C-J's editorial board!

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

We Need Betty Baye On The Case

Courier-Journal columnist Betty Winston Baye wrote a piece a few weeks ago in which she expressed outrage that persons unknown had given in her name to Republican campaigns. Baye became aware of the donations when the candidates sent her thank-you notes, and she wants to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law:

Sure, the amounts involved are piddling, but it's the principle of the thing. It's a form of identity theft which I intend to do all I can to get to the bottom of and then, if possible, pursue legal remedies.

We're sure that Baye must be similarly outraged that more than 48,000 people have donated to Planned Parenthood in the name of Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. John McCain, according to Amanda Carpenter for Townhall.

The donations to Planned Parenthood, as the email that solicited them notes, are tax-deductible. The contributions made in Baye's name to Sen. John Thune and Brett Guthrie are not deductible. Taxpayers actually subsidize Planned Parenthood.

In addition to the difference in tax treatment, the donations in Palin's name are much more hateful than the ideological "identity theft" that infuriated Baye. What's at issue is not just a political difference of opinion but an affront to Trig Palin's right to exist.

In theory, the donations to Planned Parenthood puport to protect a woman's right to " choose." But it's become clear that what infuriates the feminasties about Palin is her "choice"to carry Baby Trig to term -- even after learning that he has Down Syndrome.

And lest there be any doubt about where Planned Parenthood's allegiance lies in the campaign, the email suggests that if at all possible, an additional donation should be sent to the Obama campaign.

Baye noted when her own name was used for donations she did not like,

Whoever made those contributions and possibly others in my name (using The Courier-Journal's address) is breaking the law and quite possibly could make trouble for the campaigns that have accepted these donations.

And will accepting those 48,000 donations similarly "make trouble" for Planned Parenthood? Perhaps Baye can expand her investigation to look into Planned Parenthood's tax-exempt status.

The C-J's "Experts" on Oil Speculation Flunked Economics 101

The Courier-Journal's editorial writers come out today against the big bad oil speculators, and call Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell a "fraud" for not signing onto the Democrats' bill "to curb the rampant speculation that experts say is part of the reason gas prices are so high." The C-J's editors don't say who their "experts" are, but those "experts" appear to know more about dunking than principles of economics.

As Professor Craig Perron of the University of Houston wrote in The Wall Street Journal:

Commodity price shocks, like those currently rocking the oil market, inevitably lead to witch hunts. And speculators are typically among the first to be hunted down.
. . . .
The unprecedented run-up in oil prices is painful for consumers around the world. But the focus on speculation is misguided, and represents a convenient distraction from an understanding of the real, underlying causes of high oil prices -- most notably continuing demand growth in the face of stagnant production, supply disruptions and the weakening dollar.

More restrictions and regulations of energy markets, in the vain belief that such actions will bring price relief, are counterproductive. They will make the energy markets less efficient, rather than more so.

In other words, curbing speculation in oil won't lower the price of gasoline, but drilling for more oil (i.e., increasing supply) and conservation (i.e., decreasing demand) will. Oil speculation -- like speculation in any commodity -- is simply the mechanism through which an efficient market prices the commodity based upon anticipated supply and demand in the future. Oil speculators are, in a sense, the "messengers" of what the price of oil will be if more drilling and conservation do not occur.

Essentially the Democratic response to the reports of higher oil prices is to try to act in the counterproductive way that the Greeks handled bad news: by killing the messenger. Fortunately, we have leaders like McConnell who understand that the energy shortage can only be solved by addressing the root causes of the problem -- supply and demand for the commodity -- and not looking for imaginary scapegoats. As he writes today in a letter to C-J's editor: "The answer is simple: We need to find more energy and use less."

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

C-J Acknowledges U.S. Is Winning War in Iraq -- On The Next To Last Page Of Section A

The Courier-Journal never ceases to amaze with its biased placement of news articles. Today, the paper begins page A1 with the headline "GOP faces high odds on keeping Senate seats," pooh-poohing Republican chances of victory in the November election. This headline is followed by "Homeowners' relief awaits Bush's signature", as if the President's slowness in signing legislation was to blame for the mortgage crisis instead of the bad lending and borrowing practices of the people who lent and borrowed the money. (The latter headline is not surprising as Bush, of course, is blamed for every ill the C-J staff can think of.)

Readers must plow through most of Section A before coming upon the headline that should have been in big block letters on A1: "U.S. now winning war in Iraq that seemed lost," an Associated Press piece that flies directly in the face of Senator Barack Obama's refusal to acknowledge that the surge has worked. It's good to see that the C-J deemed the AP analysis at least newsworthy enough to print, even though it is buried at the end of the section in the apparent hope that few would actually read it.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

C-J Fails to Print Letter from University Presidents

The presidents of three of Kentucky's largest universities wrote a letter to the Courier-Journal to rebut David Hawpe's nonsensical assertion that Mitch McConnell caused Kentucky colleges to raise tuition. It's an important rejoinder from three people who address Hawpe's subject with knowledge and authority. Yet the C-J failed to print the letter in hard-copy; it only ran in the on-line edition.

The letter comes from James Ramsey, president of University of Louisville, Gary A. Ransdell, president of Western Kentucky University, and James C. Votruba, president of Northern Kentucky University. When three of the highest-ranking educators in the Commonwealth speak with one voice on an issue,most would call whatever they have to say newsworthy. But not the C-J.

This is the consequence of a the C-J's monopoly status: when it decides to go after a candidate, it fails to give its subscribers the opposing view. The paper tries to inoculate itself from a charge of bias by printing the university presidents' letter in the online edition, where only a small fraction of its subscribers will read it.

This blog previously addressed the merits of Hawpe's arguments that McConnell, a U.S. Senator, could cause tuition to raise at Kentucky colleges. McConnell likewise has responded to Hawpe's accusations.

Because the C-J will not keep the online edition available for the entire election season -- and because it failed to print the letter in its hard copy -- I will reprint it in its entirety:

Sen. Mitch McConnell has used his seniority and considerable influence in the United States Senate to move Kentucky's universities forward in extraordinary ways that allow us to serve Kentuckians and improve the quality of life for our commonwealth's citizens.
In David Hawpe's recent column "Give Mitch McConnell Credit Where Credit is Due," he cites a number of examples of federal funds earmarked for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Northern Kentucky University, the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and Western Kentucky University. We would argue that federal dollars are going to be spent, and we much prefer to have them spent at Kentucky's universities where we know best how to solve real-life problems that plague Kentuckians than at universities that will never touch the lives of Kentuckians.

At the University of Louisville, the Cardiac Innovation Institute – a groundbreaking research center designed to bring together the best minds in the field to improve the quality of life for heart failure patients -- was made possible because of the work of Sen. McConnell. He also helped secure federal dollars to expand Uof L's library that has earned it the distinction of being one of the Top 100 Research Libraries in America for our students, faculty, and the Louisville community. In Owensboro, federal dollars obtained by Sen. McConnell were used to start a Uof L partnership with the Owensboro Cancer Research Project to use tobacco plants to create cancer drugs.

Sen. McConnell has secured nearly $60 million for WKU over the last 10 years. WKU's Rural Mobile Health Unit, purchased and equipped with federal funds obtained by Sen. McConnell, takes students and faculty into surrounding communities to provide needed dental and health care services to school children while at the same time giving WKU students valuable real-life work experience. Federal funds have also been used at WKU for energy research, environmental initiatives, intervention programs for at-risk youth, and much, much more.
At Northern Kentucky University, Sen. McConnell has directed important funding for Kentucky math and science improvement, informatics and economic development initiatives – all a part of the university's talent development business plan designed to escalate Northern Kentucky's contribution to Kentucky's economic progress.

To lose the critical federal funding that Sen. McConnell directs to Kentucky's universities would be devastating. Those federal funds not only benefit our universities, but they directly impact Kentuckians who badly need the services and programs these funds support.
So together we thank Sen. McConnell for what he has done to help us advance higher education in Kentucky. He certainly does deserve proper credit, and we'll continue to thank him when an opportunity is presented.

James Ramsey is president of University of Louisville, Gary A. Ransdell is president of Western Kentucky University, and James C. Votruba is president of Northern Kentucky University.

Hawpe and his cronies at the C-J are entitled to their (mistaken) views. But by failing actually to print the university presidents' letter, they have crossed the line from partisan to deceitful. They manage to print letters from numerous cranks every day; surely a direct response from some of the Commonwealth's most esteemed educators warrants the same courtesy.

Pictures Deconstruct Thousands Of Words

In his letter to the editor, printed in today's Courier-Journal, Steve Seger points out what many of us noticed on yesterday's C-J Forum pages: photo editorializing run amok. But whereas my reaction was simply to roll my eyes and think, "nothing's going to change at the C-J, so why write about it?", Seger mustered the energy to respond, so good for him. Kudos also to the C-J for allowing the letter to see the light of day. Here it is:

Despite repeated complaints from readers, your editorial page staff continues to print majestic leadership-inspired photos of Democrats and buffoonish pictures of Republicans. The latest example was Wednesday with Barack Obama, jaw firmly set, sterm [sic -- The C-J still needs to hire a proofreader] eyes agaze, peering into the future no doubt.

Beneath that was a shot of John McCain, probably a still taken from a video, looking like he was about to burp up his lunch. Surely you don't think this kind of thing is going to make a conservative reader suddenly switch sentiments? More likely the inmates are running the asylum down at the good old C-J. What a shame.

Segar's letter neglected to mention the most unflattering and unfair photo juxtaposition of all in yesterday's paper: a picture of President Bush doing the boogie with a New Orleans jazz band above a picture of rubble from Hurricane Katrina. The sophomoric caption that the C-J gave to that montage was "Disaster Relief? Heckuva job, Georgie."

Given the C-J's editorial staff's photo antics yesterday, perhaps their depiction of the three Stooges in today's edition is meant to be a self-portrait.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

McConnell Responds to Hawpe

For non-Louisville readers, here's Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell's response to David Hawpe's bizarre C-J column, in which Hawpe blamed McConnell for tution increases passed by the state General Assembly.

The C-J doesn't keep it's online edition up very long, so I'll play archivist and excerpt my favorite McConnell line:

Anybody with a basic understanding of civics knows that as Kentucky's senior senator in Washington, D.C., I have nothing to do with a state budget that is negotiated between the governor and the legislature in Frankfort. And the idea that one comment from me could escalate tuition rates across the state is even more ludicrous.

McConnell did a better job than I putting into concrete terms the vast good that comes from the millions of federal dollars that he directs to Kentucky:

U of L is at the forefront of medical research to fight heart disease and cancer. UK is expanding access to dental care in many rural parts of the state. WKU scientists help small communities provide safe drinking water and prevent wastewater from damaging our streams and rivers. And teaching programs at Northern Kentucky University help improve math and science instruction for Kentucky students.

The many Kentuckians whose lives have been improved by these efforts probably don't scoff at my efforts the way David Hawpe does, and would be happy to see me continue to bring home university funding to benefit our state. So I will.

It is beyond dispute that Bruce Lunford, as Freshman senator, could not bring this kind of money back to Kentucky (in the unlikely event that he were elected). Lunsford's TV ads not only acknowledge but underscore McConnell's seniority.

So the question for Lunsford becomes, is he willing to dip into his vast personal fortune to pay for those millions of dollars in earmarks that Kentucky would lose if it elects Lunsford?

The C-J "Clarifies" McConnell Misquote

Some newspapers, when they make a mistake, issue a correction or a retraction. When the Courier-Journal needed to clean up the mess it made yesterday -- attributing a quote to Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell that actually came from a rival -- it issued a "clarification."

According to today's C-J, the story it ran yesterday "was unclear in its attribution of a statement by Dan Coleman, manger of Democrat Michael Cassaro's campaign." To the contrary, the story was very clear -- just factually incorrect. We need a dictionary to translate C-J speak: a "clarification" is a correction; "unclear" means flat out wrong.

The "clarification," incidentally, does not mention McConnell or in any way say to whom the quote was incorrectly attributed. Nor was McConnell's the only missing name. The "Human [sic] Festival playwright" (see post below) didn't even get a "clarification."

To Err Is "Human" At The C-J

On a day when the Courier-Journal brags about its "high standards", it is ironic that the misquote from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is not the only misprint in that newspaper. Check out the picture on page E1 of writer Jennifer Haley, who is captioned as a "Human [sic] Festival playwright."

One of the perquisites of being Senate Republican Leader is that when the C-J misquotes you, the paper fixes it. Poor Ms. Haley did not get the same treatment. Alas, she remains merely "Human" in the C-J's online edition as well as in the earlier print version.

After the performance of Ms. Haley's work at the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre, perhaps the C-J could hire her to proofread.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

C-J's Bogus McConnell Quote

The Courier-Journal contains a piece by Joe Gerth on the U.S. Senate race that attributes a quote to Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. The only problem is that McConnell did not say those words. In fact, the C-J neither sought nor received any quote regarding the AFL-CIO endorsement of W. Bruce Lunsford.

The printed version of the C-J erroneously quotes McConnell regarding Dr. Mike Cassaro, who is running in the Democratic primary to challenge McConnell:

"'Mike's campaign has been warmly received by the rank-and-file membership of most unions in Kentucky. We are continuing to work with a number of independent labor organizations,'said McConnell, the Senate minority leader, is seeking his fifth term."

To be sure, Cassaro is one of the weaker Democrats seeking to run against McConnell. Nonetheless, it's hard to imagine McConnell commending Cassaro's campaign as "warmly received." And in fact, McConnell said no such thing.

The C-J's online edition attributes the quote to Dan Coleman, Cassaro's campaign manager -- though the C-J fails to mention that the online edition corrects a mistake that appeared in print. We wait with baited breath to see if the C-J will run a retraction.

David Hawpe, Queen-maker

The 2008 class of Leadership Louisville met with the Courier-Journal's editorial board yesterday and learned that all the editors present support Barack Obama -- except David Hawpe. (Jill Johnson Keeney was out of town.) Hawpe backs Hillary.

But Hawpe has veto power. So if the C-J endorses Hillary, we will know that Hawpe has exercised his prerogative as a Super-editor. And as late as the Democratic primary threatens to drag out, perhaps Hawpe's opinion actually will matter for once.

C-J Speaks Ill Of The Dead, Who Had Better Manners

Today's Courier-Journal gives us a display of what can be charitably described as the editor's ill-bred manners. The C-J shows a picture of William F. Buckley, Jr. wearing a black mask "in 1966 at Truman Capote's famous black and white ball," accompanied by a letter to the editor calling Mr. Buckley a "monster" with "the legacy of pretentious snobbery, bigotry, homophobia and nastiness." Another letter writer asserts that Mr. Buckley

did nothing but expound hedonistic self- gratification, with a political agenda for maintaining the status quo at the expense of less fortunate fellow human beings.
He did this with clever tongue-in-cheek hypocrisy, which was sickening to all idealistic folk who care about fairness and justice.

There is such a sharp contrast in style between the C-J and Mr. Buckley, and clearly the latter comes out looking better. A piece by Eric Konigsberg of the New York Times provides insight:

Mr. Buckley’s manners were classy, if not perfect. He insisted on addressing his guests as “Mr.” Or “Mrs.,” though he once accidentally called Mrs. Thatcher “Margaret” because he thought she’d called him “Bill.” (When, upon reading a transcript of the episode, he realized she had been referring to a bill of legislation, he was extremely embarrassed, said Richard Brookhiser, a conservative writer and a frequent guest on the program.)

Mr. [Michael] Kinsley said, “He was extremely charming and kind; he never took his ideological battles into the personal realm.”

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

The Cincinnati Enquirer Gets It

We're still waiting on the Courier-Journal to denounce Governor Beshear's "pay to play" politics. But at least today's Cincinnati Enquirer got the point:

"Pay to play" took on an added meaning in Kentucky this week, as casino operator William Yung III, head of Crestview Hills-based Columbia Sussex Corp., defended his $1 million contribution to an advocacy group whose TV ads helped elect Gov. Steve Beshear by underscoring the ethical woes of his predecessor, Ernie Fletcher.

Beshear has proposed an amendment to allow 12 casinos to be built in Kentucky; Yung already has declared that he wants one of the licenses for a casino on the Jillian's site in Covington, property he just bought for $7 million.

Both Beshear and Yung strongly deny that the contribution - along with a $10,000 donation to help fund Beshear's inaugural bash in Frankfort - is resulting in any extra consideration for Columbia Sussex in the state's possible Casino Derby.
Besides, the proposal by Beshear is considered by many a long shot. It must be approved by the legislature this spring, then by voters in November. If not, Yung's $8.01 million ante may be for naught. "Absolutely, we're gambling on it," Yung said. That's the spirit: Roll the dice.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.