Obama Hung in Effigy by Penis-less Morons

It appears high gas prices this summer forced Lexington's Morons Without Penises to sell their submlimation Hummers and SUVs, and now they're forced to stage fake lynchings to assuage their sexual frustration.

University of Kentucky police are investigating who hung an effigy of Democrat Sen. Barack Obama from a tree on the Lexington campus Wednesday morning.

UK President Lee Todd said that UK police have notified federal authorities of the incident. Todd said a professor saw the effigy on the tree near the Rose Street parking garage across from the Mining and Mineral Resources building this morning and called police.

SNIP

The effigy had a mask of Obama on it and there was a noose around the effigy's neck, Todd said.

SNIP

Many students on UK's campus were unaware that the racial incident had happened until noon on Wednesday. Antonio Dixon was walking out of UK's Student Center when he heard the news from another student. The black freshman from Lexington said he hoped that it was a prank.

"It's terrible," Dixon said, shaking his head. "You've got a lot of people who do that kind of stuff just to get attention. It's just not right. I think with Halloween coming... I hope it was a prank."

Sorry to disappoint you, Antonio, but this was most certainly not a "prank."

This is the logical consequence of Right-Wing Authoritarian dictatorship keeping people stupid and impotent through republican policies of Permanent War and Enriching the Wealthy.

This is the logical consequence of a Right-Wing Authoritarian republican presidential candidate exploiting that stupidity and impotence with thinly-veiled calls for racial violence.

This is the logical consequence of Kentucky's Democratic "leaders" catering to racists and pretending they're not running on the same ticket as Barack Obama instead of standing fearlessly in front of the haters and condemning their hatred. I'm talking to YOU, Gov. Steve Beshear, and YOU, Kentucky Democratic Party officials, and YOU, racist DINO David Boswell. And speaking out BEFORE the lynching starts. After is too late.

Gov. Steve Beshear, a Demcocrat, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon calling the incident "embarrassing and unfortunate."

.
"Embarrassing and unfortunate?" How about "tacky and not nice?" Or possibly "uncool, bro?"

It's a fucking hate crime. It's a fucking threat against the life of a major-party nominee for the fucking presidency.

Trust me, the Secret Service does not think this is "embarrassing and unfortunate."

"Embarrassing and unfortunate" is how the nation and the world now thinks of the University of Kentucky, the City of Lexington, and the Commonwealth.

Read the whole thing, including a surprisingly strong statement from UK President Todd.

Cross-posted at Watching Those We Chose.

Keith Gets McCain Wrong

I worship Keith Olbermann. For the last two years of the Smirky-Darth maladministration, Countdown is the only thing that's kept me marginally sane.

But in his Special Comment Monday night, Keith got one thing wrong. Dead wrong.

Senator, of all the things I don't like about you or your campaign I have never thought you a racist. As imperfect as was your moment with the Minnesota woman, mumbling about Arabs, I thought it was the finest moment of your campaign.

I believe that you feel as I do – that racial hatred and prejudice have no place in this campaign, or in this country.

I hope that Olbermann said that just as a complimentary introduction to his plea to McCain to condemn the Ashley Todd racist hoax. I hope Keith, of all people, knows how cruelly false is the persistent myth in the media that McShame is this sweet old man whose loving heart is just broken by the hateful, vicious racism of his campaign.

No. Nameless nasty "others" have not hijacked McCain's planned campaign of respect and issues; the filth and obscenities are of McShame's making and McShame's approval.

McShame is not saying those vicious, hateful, racist things just because he's stressed out. He's saying those vicious, hateful, racist things because he can't believe he's getting beat and beat bad by that uppity ni**er.

Stress doesn't cause people to do or say things out of character; stress causes people to reveal their true personality.

When I'm stressed, I freak out and scream obscenities. That's because my basic personality is obscenity-screaming freak.

When John McCain is stressed, he spews vicious, racist attacks. That's because John McCain's basic personality is vicious, racist thug.

John McCain is a vicious, racist thug. His campaign proves it.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

"This Wickedness and Stupidity"

For his bloodthirsty defense of the Iraq catastrophe, Christopher Hitchens will surely spend eternity as a cockroach. But for a cold-eyed, rational dissection of republican insanity, there's no one better.

This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just "people of faith" but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity.

Read the whole thing.

Cross-posted as BlueGrassRoots.

One Week to Change the Future

So far I can find only the last 6-1/2 minutes of Obama's "closing argument" speech in Canton, Ohio, this morning, but that's enough. More than this might kill me.



Text of full speech here.

And my favorite part:

Ohio, that's what hope is - that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better is waiting around the bend; that insists there are better days ahead. If we're willing to work for it. If we're willing to shed our fears and our doubts. If we're willing to reach deep down inside ourselves when we're tired and come back fighting harder.

Hope! That's what kept some of our parents and grandparents going when times were tough. What led them to say, "Maybe I can't go to college, but if I save a little bit each week my child can; maybe I can't have my own business but if I work really hard my child can open one of her own." It's what led immigrants from distant lands to come to these shores against great odds and carve a new life for their families in America; what led those who couldn't vote to march and organize and stand for freedom; that led them to cry out, "It may look dark tonight, but if I hold on to hope, tomorrow will be brighter."

That's what this election is about. That is the choice we face right now.

Don't believe for a second this election is over. Don't think for a minute that power concedes. We have to work like our future depends on it in this last week, because it does.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

Steal Back Your Vote

Are you registered to vote? Are you sure? In every state, election boards are purging registration lists of legal voters by the thousands.

Did you sign your driver's license with your middle initial, but use just our first and last name on your voter registration? Did the DMV clerk transpose the numbers on your street address? Does your fairly common name match that of a convicted felon? House in foreclosure? Gotten a speeding ticket lately? Going to college away from home? Oops, sorry - no voting for you!

The republican party may be devoid of ideas to restore the economy, eliminate our dependence on foreign oil or keep us safe, but its imagination knows no bounds when it comes to preventing Democrats from voting.

Infamous muckraker Greg Palast, along with Riverkeeper founder Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have documented repug election fraud tactics and come up with simple, effective ways to Steal Back Your Vote.

The best tactic is to vote early and in person - do NOT send an absentee ballot! - but even in states like Kentucky that do not allow early voting, it's not too late to protect your vote.

Even if you've voted for years with no problem, call your county clerk today and get confirmation that you are, indeed, registered to vote. Get it in writing if you can. Make sure you know where your polling place is, and try to get there as soon as possible after it opens at 6 a.m. - that way, if your right to vote is challenged, you'll have to time to protest and demand to exercise your right to vote. Do NOT accept a "provisional ballot" - they're never counted.

Check out this site for more information on protecting your right to vote.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

Steal Back Your Vote

Are you registered to vote? Are you sure? In every state, election boards are purging registration lists of legal voters by the thousands.

Did you sign your driver's license with your middle initial, but use just our first and last name on your voter registration? Did the DMV clerk transpose the numbers on your street address? Does your fairly common name match that of a convicted felon? House in foreclosure? Gotten a speeding ticket lately? Going to college away from home? Oops, sorry - no voting for you!

The republican party may be devoid of ideas to restore the economy, eliminate our dependence on foreign oil or keep us safe, but its imagination knows no bounds when it comes to preventing Democrats from voting.

Infamous muckraker Greg Palast, along with Riverkeeper founder Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have documented repug election fraud tactics and come up with simple, effective ways to Steal Back Your Vote.

The best tactic is to vote early and in person - do NOT send an absentee ballot! - but even in states like Kentucky that do not allow early voting, it's not too late to protect your vote.

Even if you've voted for years with no problem, call your county clerk today and get confirmation that you are, indeed, registered to vote. Get it in writing if you can. Make sure you know where your polling place is, and try to get there as soon as possible after it opens at 6 a.m. - that way, if your right to vote is challenged, you'll have to time to protest and demand to exercise your right to vote. Do NOT accept a "provisional ballot" - they're never counted.

Check out this site for more information on protecting your right to vote.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

Winter Trade Days

Relive early Kentucky settler history and find unique holiday gifts at Fort Boonesborough's Winter Trade Days Thanksgiving weekend.

Merchants and traders who appear to have stepped out of an 18th century tableau will be selling wares of the era, providing a unique opportunity to do some early holiday gift shopping.

Fort Boonesborough State Park will stage its Winter Trade Days on Thanksgiving weekend, Saturday Nov. 29, 2008 from 9 am to 5 pm and Sunday Nov. 30, 2008 from 10 am to 4 pm. Dressed in 18th century costumes, merchants and traders will set up shops in the cabins and blockhouses of the fort. All merchandise for sale will consist of items available in the last half of the 18th century.

The 18th century Transylvania Store has re-located to the northwest blockhouse of the fort and includes items handmade at the fort. The Museum Store and Fort Museum will be open as well. There is no admission charge to the fort for this event.
You can find pictures of the 2007 Trade Fair at www.fortboonesboroughlivinghistory.org. Click on "Annual Events" at the top of the page.

Fort Boonesborough is located at 4375 Boonesborough Road, just 5 miles off I-75 at Exit 95, about 10 miles south of Lexington. With its strategic location in central Kentucky, Fort Boonesborough is within easy driving distance from most of the commonwealth. The original fort was built by Daniel Boone and his men in 1775.

For more information, contact Bill Farmer at 859-527-3131 ext. 216 or email ftboone@bellsouth.net.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

Road to 270: Kentucky

Fivethirtyeight.com, the go-to-site for Electoral College and campaign analysis this year, turns its attention to Kentucky.

As noted at the outset, Barack Obama's advantage in partisan self-identification is deceptive. Particularly in rural areas and Eastern Kentucky, Obama was wiped off the map. Obama failed to win a single Democratic convention delegate in Kentucky's 5th district, the only district in the entire nation where that happened. One thing Obama does have going for him in Kentucky is the state is on the tougher end of economic times, ranking 10th in unemployment rate. As the economic crisis has helped tilt the race in Obama's favor, Kentucky would seem a place where Obama might close ground, even if it's not enough to win.

The analysis unfortunately beings with some unecessary stereotypes, but includes a fascinating demographic breakdown with stats I haven't seen anywhere else.

Read the whole thing.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

Obama Unfiltered

Until recently, TIME Magazine's Joe Klein was one of the worst perpetrators of MSM misinterpretation-for-false-equivalence. He couldn't report actual repug attacks, lies and crimes without exaggerating or just making up some Democratic mistep to provide fake balance.

Now Klein goes journalistically commando, publishing the full, apparently unedited transcript of an interview with Barack Obama.

Obama talks about gut decisions, Rev. Wright and the race speech, McCain "suspending" his campaign, the economic crisis, Iraq and Afghanistan, and how national security, jobs, healthcare, energy and the environment are part of the same problem and require a comprehensive solution.

Full transcript here.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

One-Stop Online Assistance in Kentucky

Repugs nationally and in Kentucky have done a great job over the last eight years of shredding the social safety net woven by FDR's New Deal, LBJ's Great Society and other Democratic innovations.

But there are a few resources still out there for individuals and families finding it difficult to keep home and health intact in the current recession.

And now you can find them all online in one convenient spot.

As the national and global economy continues to remain uncertain and challenging, Governor Steve Beshear today unveiled a new Web site, http://www.assistance.ky.gov. This one-stop-shop provides readily accessible links for struggling Kentuckians to help find critical resources in tough times, such as health insurance and home mortgage information.

"Kentuckians, like all Americans, are facing tough economic times," said Gov. Beshear. "However, I want all Kentuckians to know that state government is on their side. This Web site is yet another step we are taking to protect our citizens and provide resources to help them when they are struggling."

The new Web site will provide information and links on topics covering a wide range of areas, including financial assistance; staying healthy; taking care of Kentucky's kids; staying in your home; job assistance; and money-saving commuting tips.

Gov. Beshear also encourages groups and businesses whose clientele may be served by these programs to link to www.assistance.ky.gov on their Web sites.

Some people will be in more financial trouble than any of these programs can deal with. But for those who may see trouble approaching - losing a job, rising prices, medical expenses, accidents - these agencies and organizations can help.

www.assistance.ky.gov. Spread the word.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

Will Mitchie's escape from military service be the nail in his political coffin?

Former Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo, whose investigation helped defeat former Governor Ernie Fletcher, has re-opened the issue of Mitch McConnell's military service.

A prominent Democrat questioned Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s military service — specifically his discharge from the Army Reserves — as McConnell launched his latest commercial Tuesday criticizing veterans’ health clinics with ties to his Democratic opponent.

Democratic state Rep. Greg Stumbo, the former Kentucky attorney general, called on McConnell to release his military discharge records.

“Elections should be about informed choices. He’s obviously not proud of his record, Sen. McConnell isn’t, or he would have shown it by now,” Stumbo said. “Something isn’t correct about it that might cause a lot of people, including veterans, to take a second look at him.”

McConnell enlisted in the Army Reserves in July 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War but received a medical discharge after less than six months for an eye condition called optic neuritis, according to limited information that has been made public.

Questions about McConnell’s military service have popped up toward the end of each of McConnell’s last three elections. After his 2002 opponent, Lois Combs Weinberg, claimed McConnell may have received “preferential treatment,” the Herald-Leader reported that McConnell’s eye problems led to a hospitalization before McConnell enlisted in the Army Reserves and that the condition has flared up occasionally since then.

“If Lunsford wants to question the senator’s honorable discharge, the Army’s decision and the Herald-Leader’s 2002 reporting on this subject, he should do it himself and not hide behind surrogates,” said Don Stewart, a spokesman for McConnell in Washington.

Lunsford declined to touch the subject. “This campaign has been one about change — about the bigger issues,” he said.

But Stumbo — Lunsford’s running mate in the 2007 governor’s race — said Lunsford, should use it as a campaign issue. Lunsford served five years in the U.S. Army Reserves in the 1970s. McConnell has brought the scrutiny upon himself, Stumbo said.

“I’ll tell you how sorry he is, he’s sending young men and women to die in Iraq and Afghanistan and he will not share with the people of Kentucky how he got out of military service — how in the height of the Vietnam War he was able to dodge military service,” Stumbo said Tuesday before an event for Lunsford in Paris.

Stumbo said he doubted that McConnell was discharged for medical reasons.

“I think he either had a personal issue that they threw him out of the armed services and military or he had a powerful member of his party or somebody get him out,” he said. “I don’t know why you get released from the Army at the height of a war unless you know somebody or unless you did something real bad.”

The only record of McConnell’s military discharge that has been publicly released was an Aug. 10, 1967, letter from then-U.S. Sen. John Cooper, a Somerset Republican for whom McConnell interned in 1964. Cooper’s letter to the commanding general at Fort Knox said McConnell was being medically discharged for optic neuritis, according to the Sept. 11, 2002, Herald-Leader.

McConnell’s former chief of staff Hunter Bates told the Herald-Leader six years ago that Cooper wrote that letter to “expedite a discharge” at the request of McConnell’s father after the Army informed McConnell his condition was grounds for leaving the military.

Read the whole thing.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

KY Officials Fall for "Voter Fraud" Myth

As republicans across the country ramp up state efforts to use massive disinformation and intimidation to prevent newly-registered Democrats from actually exercising their right to vote, Kentucky's Attorney General and Secretary of State are off on a snipe hunt.

The Commonwealth’s chief law-enforcement official and chief elections officer came together today in the State Capitol to announce that they will once again be working together with agencies across Kentucky as part of a task force to prevent and investigate allegations of voter fraud during the November 4, 2008 general election. Attorney General Jack Conway and Secretary of State Trey Grayson discussed the importance of this year’s elections and how each office is working to protect the election from potential fraud.

Um, boys? BOYS! Listen up: "Voter Fraud" is a myth. It doesn't exist. It's a fairy tale of democratic shenanigans repeated by republicans to distract everyone from the very real and widespread election fraud perpetrated by republicans.

Or as Dahlia Lithwick in Slate puts it:

Believing in vote fraud may be dangerous to a democracy's health.

There is no such thing as vote fraud. The think tank created to peddle the epidemic has evaporated. A handful of cases have been prosecuted. Then why is Sarah Palin shooting off e-mails contending that "we can't allow leftist groups like ACORN to steal this election?" Why is former Sen. John Danforth announcing, all statesmanlike, that the whole 2008 election "has been tainted?" Why is Ted Olson, the Republican National Lawyers Association lawyer of the year, claiming that "[ACORN] acknowledged having to get rid of a thousand people or more who were participating in voter fraud efforts." These people know the difference between registration fraud and vote fraud. Why continue to suggest they are the same thing?

Consider the fact that, as the Brennan Center reported recently, "[E]lection officials across the country are routinely striking millions of voters from the rolls through a process that is shrouded in secrecy, prone to error, and vulnerable to manipulation." Consider the recent New York Times review of state records and Social Security records, which concluded that "[t]ens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law." Consider the case, now on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, in which 200,000 new Ohio voters stand to be bounced off the rolls because, through no fault of their own, their names don't match error-riddled state databases. Consider the indictment this week of former Republican official James Tobin for his 2002 role in jamming Democratic get-out-the-vote calls. Consider the much-ballyhooed Republican challenge to the eligibility of 6,000 Native American and student voters in Montana that backfired first in court, then with the abrupt resignation this week of the official who spearheaded the effort.

SNIP

Consider the fliers and robo-calls designed to spread false information and threats to Hispanic and African-American voters. (According to the Philadelphia Daily News, fliers in minority neighborhoods warned residents that undercover cops would be lurking around the polls on Election Day, arresting anyone with "outstanding arrest warrants or who have unpaid traffic tickets.")

There is wholly implausible vote stealing, and then there is the vote stealing that actually happens. You want to get all crazy-paranoid? I'd worry more about the people who want to rough up their fellow citizen at the polls than people who want to risk jail time for voting twice.

But it appears repug Grayson has thoroughly bamboozled Democrat Conway into ignoring repug intimidation of poor and minority Democrats trying to vote legitimately in order to beat the bushes for wholly imaginary fake voters.

Even though the same attempt to track down "voter fraud" during the primary in May and 2004 election turned up a grand total of - wait for it - zero cases.

During the primary, the Office of the Attorney General’s Election Fraud Hotline received 59 calls on election day from 28 counties. There were no complaints of vote-buying. The majority of calls dealt with informational questions or complaints about electioneering within 300 feet of polls and exit-polling violations.

The last Presidential election in 2004 resulted in 52 pre-election complaints, 123 Election Day complaints and 26 post-election complaints. Seventeen of those complaints were referred for review or investigation. There were no charges filed.

Keep your eyes peeled and ears sharp at the polls this year. Be ready to report immediately any suspicious activity, like anyone trying to prevent someone from voting by questioning their identification, or their address, or their citizenship, or anything else.

But don't bother to call the Fraud Twins Trey and Jack. Call the Kentucky Democratic Party's Election Protection Hotline staffed by attorneys an volunteers. You can call 888-4KYVOTE to learn more about your rights, report problems or get answers on Election day. If you don't get the help you need immediately, call your local television station or Page One Kentucky.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

Kentucky Unemployment 7.1% - Highest in 17 years

Official unemployment in Kentucky is the highest it's been in almost 17 years.

Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate for September 2008 rose to 7.1 percent from August 2008’s revised 6.8 percent, according to the Office of Employment and Training (OET), an agency of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet. September 2007’s jobless rate was 5.4 percent.

The U.S. seasonally adjusted jobless rate stayed at 6.1 percent from August 2008 to September 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Did you get that? Unemployment in Kentucky increased 0.3 percentage points - about four percent - in just one month. Since September 2007, it's up 1.7 percentage points - almost one-third higher in a year. It's a full percentage point higher - 15 percent worse - than the national rate.

Unemployment in Kentucky has not been this high since the 7.4 percent rate in January 1992 - 16 years and eight months ago.

“Nearly every sector of Kentucky's economy experienced job losses in September 2008, showcasing widespread economic weakness. Employment declines reflect government cutbacks in the face of austere budgets, a prolonged manufacturing slump reverberating throughout the economy, and retailers and accommodations and food services enterprises suffering as financially strained consumers clamp down on discretionary spending,” said Justine Detzel, OET (Office of Employment and Training) chief labor market analyst.

SNIP

The monthly estimate of the number of unemployed Kentuckians for September 2008 was 145,843, up 6,790 from the 139,053 Kentuckians unemployed in August 2008, and up 35,400 from the 110,443 unemployed in September 2007.

There's an old unfunny joke about the difference between a recession and a depression: When your neighbor loses his job, it's a recession. When you lose your job, it's a depression.

And if 1992 sounds familiar for more than the crummy economy, it's also the year Kentucky reversed its republican trend and voted for the Democratic presidential candidate.

For details on employment in various sectors, read the whole release.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

The True Face of the McCain/Palin Campaign

Many years ago, I struck up a conversation at a conference with a citizen of a third-world nation struggling to establish democracy. He was shocked and disbelieving at the failure of more than half of eligible voters in the U.S. to actually exercise their right to vote. I'll never forget what he said:

"If we had the right to vote in our country, not a single person would fail to do so."

Right here in the United States of America, McCain/Palin supporters are trying to intimidate eligible voters - their own neighbors - from exercising their right to vote.

The Washington Times, a self-described conservative paper, reported today on a polling site in North Carolina where "a group of loud and angry protesters who shouted and mocked the voters as they walked in." The voters were mostly black, and the "angry protesters" were "nearly all were white."

Stop and think about that for a second. In the United States, in the 21st century, we have Republican activists protesting a presidential election. McCain/Palin supporters have taken to heckling, mocking, and shouting at people who want to participate in the democratic process. Literally.

And when they're not trying to intimate voters at polling places, Republican activists are slashing voters' tires, kicking journalists to the ground, attacking middle-aged women going door to door on Obama's behalf, and vandalizing ACORN offices. And, of course, the unabashed racism is common.

The mind reels.

And the stomach churns.



Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots..

Now the Real Fight Begins

Josh Marshall explains why even double-digit leads may not be enough to save Obama's election from McCain's last-ditch strategy, which boils down to this:

Message: "He's a terrorist ni**er!" Tactic: "Newly-registered Democrat? Sorry, no voting for you!"

If you're thinking to yourself that there's little more than two weeks before election day and Obama has a solid lead in the polls, don't be so sure.

Yes, it looks good for the Democrats. But you need to play close attention to the McCain campaign's final weeks' strategy under and just above the radar. McCain's final strategy relies on two pillars. The first is aggressively playing to voters' fears of electing a black president. Make no mistake: not just his campaign in a general sense, but McCain himself and his top handful of advisers, are banking on the residual racism in a changing America to get them over the finish line. The second is an aggressive use of innuendo to convince casual voters that Obama is in league with Islamic terrorists bent on killing Americans.

SNIP

Many people say, well ... all this stuff just hasn't worked. But the truth is that the really corrupt and vicious part of McCain's effort only comes now because it's only in the last couple weeks that you can pull stuff that the press won't get to call you on before election day -- after which it doesn't matter. Will it take Obama down? So far McCain's gutter campaign has hurt him more than helped. But there's no reason to be sure it will continue that way. And many Obama supporters, sure the election is basically wrapped up, appear ready to slack in the stretch and let McCain smear and cheat his way into office.

Read the whole thing.

Then get out the checkbook and give 'till it hurts. Lace up those walking shoes and start knocking on doors. Fight like we're ten points down and $100 million behind, because given what the wingnut freakazoid racist fear-mongers have in store for the next 16 days, we are.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

KDP Defrauding Dem Challenger Heather Ryan

Oh, I do love piling on, so I'm adding my voice to David Shankula and R Democrat at BlueGrassRoots and Barefoot and Progressive.

The Kentucky Democratic Party is crowning a year of non-stop fuckups with a fundraising email that falsely implies it supports a candidate to whom it has consistently refused to give a thin dime or short minute of support.

(Apologies to Shankula for quoting his entire post, but it's so tightly and powerfully written I can't edit it.)

Several months ago, Ms. Ryan entered the race against Ed (Whitfield) in a district the state's Democratic Party had entirely conceded. Since then, the Democratic Party of this state has had very, very little use for Ms. Ryan and her campaign. Until now.

Earlier this week, Exxon Eddie Whitfield refused to debate Ms. Ryan. His cowardice garnered statewide coverage and a good dose of national attention.

After having done nothing for Heather Ryan's campaign for months, (KDP Chair Jennifer) Moore and the KDP now wish to capitalize on her success as a candidate.

Jennifer Moore's e-mail is below. It recounts Ms. Ryan's triumph, Mr. Whitfield's cowardice and the sad state of our state's news media. She writes all of this simply to request money. For the state party.

Money the state party has shown no desire to share with their own Congressional candidate.

I call on Jennifer Moore to pledge $10,000 of the KDP's money to the Heather Ryan campaign immediately.

And I call on Democrats across the state to not give this Party one more cent until Ms. Moore has pledged to do what is right.

It is not right for the party to use and abuse the candidates it has forsaken. This is our party, and until our party starts representing our interests and our candidates, it shouldn't get another penny.

In the meantime, as we wait for Ms. Moore's response, please make a donation to Heather Ryan's campaign.

Lord knows the KDP won't.

Here's the fundraising email from the Chair of the KDP. Read it and weep.

Breaking with their long standing tradition of not allowing candidates who choose not to debate to appear on the air in any manner, Kentucky Educational Television (KET), has decided to make an exception for 1st District Congressman Ed Whitfield.

Whitfield, who has refused to discuss the issues facing voters in the 1st District in any forum that has included Democratic challenger Heather Ryan, will be allowed by KET to present what amounts to an unedited campaign commercial following Ryan's appearance in which she'll take questions from the press.

This is another example of Ed Whitfield's lack of accountability. More importantly, the decision by KET to accept Whitfield's demand has effectively taken away a valuable opportunity for voters to decide; and they have set a precedent that will likely result in elected officials refusing to face the press and their constituents in favor of a recorded message of their choosing.

Please call KET at 859-258-7000 to let them know how you feel about their decision.

Sincerely,
Jennifer A. Moore
Chair, Kentucky Democratic Party

P.S. Help support the long campaign ahead. You can make a one-time contribution or join our new PLEDGE TO WIN program, where you can make an automatic monthly contribution using your credit or debit card.

A commenter at BlueGrassRoots says refusing to donate to the KDP would deny funds to "excellent candidates across the state." Really? Name three. (Silence) Name one. (Crickets.) Precisely. The KDP has reserved what little it actually has to give to candidates for washed-up hacks like convicted felon Carroll Hubbard ($14,000).

Contributing money to the KDP is buying drinks for an alcoholic and then handing him the car keys.

Donate directly to Heather Ryan's campaign here.

Donate directly to another Real Democrat being ignored by the KDP, Michael Kelley, here.

Cross-posted at Watching Those We Chose.

Survey USA: Guthrie Trouncing Boswell in KY-2

One of these decades, the Kentucky Democratic Party is going to learn that
running DINOs against real republicans never, ever works.

But none of us will ever live to see it.

Republican Guthrie Positioned to Hold Open House Seat in KY2 for GOP: In an election for US House of Representatives in Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District today, 10/17/08, to fill the open seat of retiring incumbent Republican Ron Lewis, Republican Brett Guthrie defeats Democrat David Boswell 51% to 42%, according to this exclusive WHAS-TV new poll conducted by SurveyUSA.

Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released three weeks ago, Guthrie is up 2 points; Boswell is down 1. This 3-point net gain for Guthrie comes at a time when many Republicans across the country were losing ground and Democrats were benefiting from Obama coattails. No such evidence in KY2.

Three times as many Democrats cross-over to vote for the Republican as Republicans who cross-over to vote for the Democrat. Guthrie leads by 10 points among men, by 7 among women. Among voters age 18 to 49, Guthrie leads by 13; among voters 50+, Guthrie leads by 4.

Boswell's a racist, misogynistic punk, but the real blame here for losing an open seat in a landslide Democratic year belongs to the Kentucky Democratic Party and the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, for choosing to support a non-Democrat like Boswell over Real Democrats like Heather Ryan, KY-1 and Michael Kelley, KY-4.

Support the candidates who share your values. And do not send a thin dime or volunteer a short minute for anti-Democratic frauds like the KDP and the DCCC.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

One of Us: Obama's 4-G Grandparents Are Kentuckians

In a speech in Virginia today, Democratic Senator Jim Webb, stumping for Barack Obama, told the audience they should accept Obama as one of them, because his mother comes from Kansas "by way of Kentucky."

What?! Commenter "slb" at Talking Points Memo explains:

No, it's not made up: One of Obama's 4g-grandfathers was George Washington Overall, who was born in Bullitt County, KY in 1820, and who married Louisiana Duvall of Nelson County, KY.

George Washington Overall and Louisiana Duvall are discussed in this message from the DUVALL listserv archives. The poster was apparently unaware that Barack Obama was a descendant of that couple. Incidently, the Susan Overall Clark and C[hristopher] C[olumbus] Clark mentioned in that message were Obama's 3g-grandparents. Notice that C.C. Clark was enumerated in Kansas in the 1930 census.

It is through these ancestors that Obama is linked to Dick Cheney; the Duvall line goes back to Mareen Duval who died in Maryland in 1694.

George Washington Overall was not Obama's only Kentucky ancestor; one of his 6g-grandfathers was Philip Ament (1755-1836) of Bourbon County, KY. There may be others, too, but those were two that I spotted quickly in a set of charts prepared by genealogist Gary Boyd Roberts illustrating Obama's connections to prominent Americans.

Since August, Obama has gone from 30 points down in Kentucky to just 10 points down. Now that we know he's a native son, he HAS to come visit. And once he visits, we HAVE to make sure he gets Kentucky's eight Electoral Votes.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

Time to Have the Talk

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but with any luck, this MoveOn version of those stupid anti-drug ads will prove far more effective than the originals.

We've all seen the signs in those we love--the abandonment of hope, the furtive worry about skin tone, the sleeplessness and sudden loss of teeth. But it took MoveOn to step forward and attempt an intervention.

SNIP

In pitting the wisdom of the young against the stubbornitude of the old, MoveOn was surely inspired by Sarah Silverman's hilarious Web vid "The Great Schlep," which instructs young Jews to guilt-trip their grandparents in Florida to vote for Barack. The Obama campaign itself is pushing a nudge-your-family effort --not comedic, of course, but sprinkled with some of the do-and-don't tips that Barack seems to swear by ("Don't feel defensive. Stay calm, cool and collected").

SNIP

The McCain/Palin campaign has indeed become a kind of hillbilly heroin for the masses, or at least for their base. Right now, the GOP ticket has just two things going for it: that a fragile majority of people still believe McCain is better than Obama on national security and terrorism (if on little else), and they're white. Fear and racism are addictive, and anybody who's taking them together should never drive heavy machinery like the American electoral process.

Read the whole thing.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

Southern Living: Kentucky's Cumberland Gap Top Fall Destination

For spectacular foliage, breath-taking views and pioneer heritage, you can't beat the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. And now the South's premier magazine agrees.

The Cumberland Gap area of southeastern Kentucky was named the top fall destination in the southern U.S. by Southern Living magazine in its October 2008 edition.

In addition to brilliant foliage, Cumberland Gap -- one of Kentucky’s highest points -- shelters buildings from a long-gone settlement, along with an unparalleled view, the magazine reports in the featured story about the top three Southern destinations for fall travelers.

For more information, contact Cumberland Gap National Historical Park: U.S. 25E, P.O. Box 1848, Middlesboro, KY 40965; www.nps.gov/cuga or (606) 248-2817.

Southern Living also tapped Greenville, S.C. and Broken Bow, Ok. as the number two and number three fall destinations. The selection of three great autumn journeys is an annual feature in the October issue of Southern Living.