News opinion 2008-04-29 Andanh.com

We are learning about Obama and he appears to be more of the same on the left Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:53:39 -0500
The self-appointed 19th-century prophet William Miller attracted an intense following when he predicted the end of the world and the arrival of the Second Coming sometime between March 1843 and April 1844. When the appointed time embarrassingly came and went, one of his followers pluckily predicted a new date of Oct. 22, 1844. The Millerites gathered that night to await the blessed event, and instead experienced what became known as “The Great Disappointment.” Barack Obama’s supporters and the media (excuse the redundancy) have expected Obama’s ascension to presumed Democratic nominee - accompanied, no doubt, by blazing lights of Unity and trumpet calls of Change - in New Hampshire, Texas and now Pennsylvania and experienced a “Great Disappointment” each time. They have hoped for a secular political Advent, and instead they have gotten Hillary Clinton- stolid and barely solvent, and yet with a persistent appeal to Democratic voters. Pennsylvania was the first post-Pastor Jeremiah Wright and post-“bitter” primary, and Clinton’s victory shouldn’t be underestimated. She won by nearly 10 points, after getting outspent by roughly 3-to-1 in a state where Obama campaigned for weeks in an effort to finish her off. Democrats lost the past two presidential elections by nominating candidates who had trouble connecting with down-scale white voters. They are about to do the same, but with their eyes wide open. When Republicans portrayed John Kerry as an out-of-touch elitist, Democrats were shocked: How could this have happened to a candidate they nominated because he was a manly, bomber-jacket-wearing war hero? With Obama, no surprises will be necessary. He’s already been losing blue-collar white voters to Hillary Clinton, whose sense of entitlement, nonexistent common touch and dubious credibility throwing back whiskey shots with a beer chaser hardly make her a natural populist. But Obama has transformed her into one. Obama has won the white vote only in seven states. He lost whites without a college degree even in his native Illinois. Among traditional Democratic voters in Pennsylvania, Clinton racked up numbers as if she had been running against an obscure alderman instead of the most lavishly financed primary candidate in America history, sporting slavish press coverage. She won 70 percent of non-college-educated whites, 59 percent of union members, 69 percent of Catholic voters, and won every income level below $150,000. The reaction in some liberal precincts was swift - to come down on Hillary hard. The New York Times all but called on Democratic superdelegates to decide the race for Obama, and chided Clinton for her using Osama bin Laden’s image in an ad to illustrate the dangers facing us in the world. How dare she invoke the most public face of the terrorist threat against America! The very brittleness of Obama makes much of liberaldom want to wrap him all the tighter in swaddling clothes. Cover-ups never work, in scandals or campaigns. Obama’s candidacy depends on a kind of make-believe that can’t be sustained. How is he going to bring the country together around an orthodox left-wing agenda? How is he going to embody bipartisanship when the significant instances of him practicing it in his legislative career are vanishingly few? How can he heal the nation’s divisions when he can’t even bridge the Democratic Party’s yawning demographic divide? There nonetheless appears no way out, even if Democrats wanted one. The superdelegates were originally created to exercise their independent judgment if the party were to flock to a flawed candidate in a fit of irrational enthusiasm. But few of them have an appetite for rejecting the candidate with the most pledged delegates, especially when he’s an African-American in a party devoted to sensitivity and inclusiveness. Then, there’s the alternative. Clinton may have formidable demographic strengths, but they are matched by her stark personal weaknesses. So Democrats are left to hope against hope that Obama can again become the miraculously unifying figure he seemed in February: “Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.”

Beshear as bouncer Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:48:00 EST
The decision to remove Susan Bush as commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Natural Resources just adds to the widespread impression, even among many of Gov. Steve Beshear's friends and supporters, that his young administration still doesn't have its act together.

The drive to consume Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:04:00 EST
Metro Louisville spent $50,000 to codify what observant locals long have known: There are serious "retail gaps" in this community.

Emerson guides the way to exploring Obama and faith Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:08:00 EST
'In this refulgent summer, it has been a luxury to draw the breath of life. The grass grows, the buds burst, the meadow is spotted with fire and gold in the tint of flowers." So began Ralph Waldo Emerson's radical, indeed revolutionary, 1838 Harvard Divinity School address.

Praise for Host Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:09:00 EST
I don't know whose bright idea it was to put Jim Host in charge of getting the new downtown arena built, but they should be given a medal. In this day of partisan politics and the "all foam and no beer" do-nothing legislators from Washington to Frankfort to right here in Louisville, Jim Host is a breath of fresh air.

Nation, world better because Union won Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:10:00 EST
I am impressed by the narrowness of mind and estrangement from reality of the letter writer who expressed his affection for the Confederacy and the Confederate flag in contemporary America.

Wright is putting Obama on the defensive again . . . Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:45:00 EST
If the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. thought he was unfairly caught in sound-bite purgatory before, his appearance Monday at the National Press Club gave doubters and critics plenty to chew on in the coming days.

. . . Wright's rhetorical contributions to McCain Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:45:00 EST
Because John McCain and other legislators worry that they are easily corrupted, there are legal limits to the monetary contributions that anyone can make to political candidates. There are, however, no limits to the rhetorical contributions that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright can make to McCain's campaign.

. . . How a 'big' election is turning into a 'small' one Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:46:00 EST
This is supposed to be a big election, but it has given every sign in recent weeks of becoming a small one. As a result, the public and the media are showing signs of exhaustion with what had once been an exhilarating contest.

4 branches of KY government Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:45:00 EST

READERS' VIEWS Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:04 EDT
HOMOPHOBIC PARTNER BILL DESERVED ITS FATE

I am a student at Eastern Kentucky University and a resident of Perry County. I am very proud that the Herald-Leader takes a positive stand for gay rights.

As a gay citizen of Kentucky, I am very concerned about the laws and legislation dealing with gay marriage and same-sex partner benefits.

As a future social worker, I am bound to adhere to the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. The code states that social workers should not practice, condone, facilitate or collaborate with any form of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, political belief, religion or mental or physical disability.

In March, a bill that would have prevented universities and institutions from allowing domestic-partner health care benefits died in committee. However, some lawmakers tried to go around the committee and bring the bill to the floor for a vote.

Lease proof that landlord treated Dame like a lady Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:06 EDT
I want to clear up a few factual gaps that, had they been explored, might have made the front-page article about The Dame a bit less newsworthy and the next day's editorial less condemning.

When I negotiated the lease for 156 West Main Street with the Harvester Group of Atlanta in 2002, I dealt primarily with Cole Skinner, a local manager-partner. I met Tom Yost and knew that other investors from the Atlanta area were involved in the potential operation of The Dame, but Skinner was the point person.

During those discussions, I made Skinner aware that my family had significant holdings on the Woolworth block and that our plans included seeking additional acquisitions and fostering development of the block.

Skinner and I discussed the fact that a long-term lease would inhibit that development and that the possibility of an early termination of the lease would expose his group to potential loss of investment. For that reason, we included in the lease a provision for early termination and a predetermined amount to reimburse the group for its loss.

In 2005, Skinner was apparently forced out of The Dame's day-to-day management, and a new era began.

Downtown vitality sapped by closed decision-making Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:06 EDT
Downtown Lexington is in the midst of a major comeback by just about any measure you can make.

We have produced more new housing downtown in the last few years than in many preceding decades. The Lexington Center-Rupp Arena Complex has been dramatically improved. The fine building stock of our historic urban neighborhoods has enjoyed a big boost in investment and a shift back to home ownership. Major urban stakeholders -- schools, universities, churches and hospitals -- have made major investments in staying downtown. It is a place full of life, with concerts, parades, footraces, sidewalk cafes and children playing in fountains.

Success has a thousand parents and probably as many people deserve thanks for downtown Lexington's turnaround.

A dense downtown is an efficient economic engine for the whole state that can create a world-class quality of life while avoiding the negative affects of sprawl. This, in turn, will attract and retain the young talent needed to maintain and increase our economic vitality.

So how do we build on this successful pattern? How do we make Lexington competitive with an Austin, Portland, Boulder, Madison or Charleston? As Vice Mayor Jim Gray says, how do we raise the standards of our B-minus downtown to match our A-plus landscape?

Consumers soaked by water decision Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:04 EDT
The state Public Service Commission lobbed a nice fat pitch over the plate to Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry last year, and he didn't even swing.

The mayor's refusal to take a lead in water planning pretty much guaranteed that investor-owned Kentucky American Water would get its way, which it did last week when the PSC approved a $160 million treatment plant and 31-mile pipeline.

The average Lexington water bill is expected to go up about $100 a year to pay for the project, which is supposed to meet the city's needs for at least 20 years.

Under the circumstances, the PSC had little choice but to find that Kentucky American's project was needed and a reasonable approach.

The next big question is whether a group of local government utilities can come up with the money to buy a 20-percent stake in the treatment plant on the Kentucky River north of Frankfort.

Chinese Dir