Mainstreaming the Next Repug Insanity

Remember when nobody thought even the repugs would be so insane as to outlaw contraception? Like, you know, last year?

 

They've almost done it.  So what's the next no-they-wouldn't-ever-outlaw-that-omg-what-just-happened issue? Planned development. You know, making sure your accountable elected officials, rather than private developers, get to decide whether that giant industrial hog operation or super walmart goes in next door to your nice suburban neighborhood.

Ed Kilgore at Political Aminal:

Think I’m exaggerating? Check out a brief sample from a long rant (and actually a book excerpt) from Stanley Kurtz at National Review that claims there is a Alinskyite cabal in the White House plotting to loot suburbanites on behalf of Obama’s urban looter friends and abolish suburbs altogether:

Obama is a longtime supporter of “regionalism,” the idea that the suburbs should be folded into the cities, merging schools, housing, transportation, and above all taxation. To this end, the president has already put programs in place designed to push the country toward a sweeping social transformation in a possible second term. The goal: income equalization via a massive redistribution of suburban tax money to the cities.

Believe me, the piece gets crazier and crazier as you go along. And while Kurtz and people like him claim to be defending suburbanites from the socialist predators of the cities, it’s hard to imagine anyone benefitting from their hard-core opposition to any kind of regional planning, land-use regulation, or inter-jurisdictional cooperation other than developers and land speculators. It’s a pretty classic example of the worst kind of greed being promoted via appeals to—no question about it—racial fears and hatred of taxes. But it’s gaining amazing steam in Tea circles around the country, and before very long, it may be hard to find the kind of Republican elected officials who used to quietly sit on regional planning bodies and try to make their communities a bit more—yes—“sustainable.”

 I'm currently reading a book about "development" in South Florida in which government agencies initially seem to be the bad guys in allowing developers to destroy the wetlands that both protect against floods and provide the region's only source of drinking water.

But what's really happening is that private corporate interests - mining, Big Ag, housing, golf courses - have hijacked the system and made it impossible for public servants to do their job of protecting the public interest.

South Florida is precisely the floodwater-everywhere-but-not-a-drop-to-drink libertarian hellhole repugs want to replicate everywhere else in the nation.

D.C. Repug Mucketymucks Ruin Kentucky Landmark

It's bad enough when native Kentuckians use their political power to destroy historic properties for no good reason. When rich D.C. repugs get in on the game, things have gone too far.

Cave Hill, the historic Lexington estate that once served as the state's temporary governor's mansion when John Y. Brown Jr. was in office, is in foreclosure and scheduled to be sold on July 27 at a Fayette County master commissioner sale.

Bruce Fein, a Washington D.C. constitutional lawyer, and his wife, Mattie Fein, own the property. They bought Cave Hill from Brown in July 2006, for $1.9 million.

The 17-acre estate, the site of elegant parties while Brown was governor, has a 7,500-square-foot residence — the original portion was built in 1821 — pool, tennis courts, a three-bedroom guesthouse, putting green and horse barn.

The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

SNIP

In the past three years, the fortunes of the stately house and once immaculately groomed grounds have fallen on hard times. It is abandoned, neglected and a judge has ordered it be sold to pay the mortgage that the owners have defaulted on.

The historic mansion has been empty since it was purchased by the Feins, according to Mattie Fein. The couple put it back on the market in December 2006 for $2.45 million.

Glass in the back door has been broken out and trespassers jimmied the lock to get inside, said George, who has seen the mansion. Wood floors are warped from water damage. The recent ice storm left the lawn littered with broken limbs and downed trees, which have not been cleaned up.

SNIP

Bruce Fein, an assistant attorney general under President Ronald Reagan, writes a weekly column for the Washington Times and Slate, an online political magazine. He and his wife own Lichfield Group, which produces political shows for television and does celebrity public relations.

SNIP

The Browns entertained frequently, using Cave Hill to sell Kentucky, the former governor said. "It was part of our Kentucky presentation. It was a special place and people wanted to be invited to visit," he said.

The Browns threw elaborate post-Derby Day parties on the lawn. Guests included actor Gregory Peck, TV host Barbara Walters, singer Kenny Rogers, Miami Vice star Don Johnson, developer Donald Trump, artist Andy Warhol and boxing great Muhammad Ali. Bill and Hillary Clinton visited while he was governor of Arkansas.

The original section of Cave Hill was built in 1821, making it one of the oldest structures in the Bluegrass.

Read the whole thing.

Second Time as Farce

It's so reassuring that Lexington never learns from history. Once a generation, it it destroys a historic downtown landmark so young people can appreciate the aesthetic and cultural value of a giant empty shithole.

Twenty-seven years before developers raped and murdered The Dame block for a Cock-and-Balls Tower that will never be built, Wallace "The Weasel" Wilkinson demolished the two-century-old Phoenix Hotel.

The site that would become the Phoenix Hotel originally housed Postlethwaite's Tavern, which was constructed in 1800. Several name changes occurred between 1800 and 1820, one of which was to Wilson's Tavern, which was visited by Col. Aaron Burr in 1806. The Phoenix Hotel opened on this site in the 1820s. [1] After it was established, the hotel quickly became a well-known landmark. As a prominent structure closely linked with travelers and tourism in the early history of the city, it helped to give Lexington the reputation that led it to be called "Athens of the West".

The Phoenix Hotel was demolished in 1981 by Wallace Wilkinson, who planned to use the site to construct the World Coal Center skyscraper. This was never constructed, and is considered the largest failed development in the cityscape of Lexington. In its place, the Park Plaza was opened in 1987, followed by the construction and opening of the modern-day Phoenix Park.

Correction: the World Coal Center used to be the largest failed development in the cityscape of Lexington.

"Daddy, why is there a trash dump the size of a whole city block on Vine Street?"

"That's a monument, son. A monument to greedy, lying developers and the politicians who worship them."

Media Czech interviewed Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry at the Bluegrass Ball in D.C. last night and got the scoop.

Asked about if he's happy with CentrePointe's progress, he says yes. Blamed the citizens for its delay and said that construction will resume in the next couple of weeks.

I asked him if he knows who is financining the Webb's project, unlike anyone else in Lexington. He said he's confident that they have funding. Asked if he knows who it is or if the Webb's have shown him the financing. He says he has no idea, gave a flat no. Face getting a little nervous.

Asked if he's running for re-election in 2010- says he doesn't know, and he'll decide within the next 6 months.

I asked him about the email he sent criticizing the "media" and fellow citizens for opposing and questioning CentrePointe. Refused to elaborate on it at all. Asked him why he sent it out. Said that the media was spreading lies about it, and he wanted to counteract that with the truth (snort!)

ASked why this project will be different from all the other hotel projects around the country that are going belly up. Says that Marriot knows what they are doing, and it won't suffer half capacity like the other hotels because it serves the "higher end" folks.

Asked him if he regretted how he presented CentrePointe, surprising both citizens and council members. He said he regreted nothing, and he fully briefed the council on it before he presented it to the city. (oh REEEEEALLY?)

He said it won't be built by the 2010 Equestrian Games, and he NEVER said or implied that it would be ready by then. Hmmm.

Asked what he thought about how Lexington looked downtown with the big crater. This is big: He said that it will look good once CentrePointe OR SOMETHING ELSE is there. He then said it again: CentrePointe or SOMETHING ELSE. I noted that he said something else twiced and asked him if he thought it's possible that it will be something other than CentrePointe. He gave a flat angry NO and cut off the interview right there.

I'll make an easy prediction here. The carcass of the Dame will sit there abandoned and rotting for at least seven years - a year longer than the Phoenix languished.

And twenty years later, Dudley Webb, from his bed in the dementia unit of some stinking nursing home, will persuade yet another Lexington mayor that he can save the city with an expensive skyscraper.

All we have to do it let him demolish Ashland, Henry Clay's home.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.