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| Damage control Mon, 12 May 2008 10:48:29 -0500 Oh, no, she didn’t. Or, as the young hip-hop generation might say, “Oh, no, she did-int!” But, oh, yes, she d-id. A day after her hoped-for monster triumph in the Indiana and North Carolina primaries fizzled, Sen. Hillary Clinton no longer seemed to care whom she offended. She dared to speak about race and gender in public with the candid language that even political consultants usually keep private. Despite losing big to Sen. Barack Obama in North Carolina’s Democratic primary and barely squeaking out a victory in Indiana, she said in an interview with USA Today that “I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on.” And who might that “broader base” be? She cited an Associated Press story “that found how Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.” “There’s a pattern emerging here,” she said. Yes, there is a pattern here and it’s not a very pretty one. When Clinton is sounding like Ms. Cranky, implying out loud that her opponent’s supporters are not hard-working enough, white enough or undereducated enough, it’s hardly a high point in her campaign. But the former First Lady rejected the notion that her comments were racially divisive. “These are the people you have to win if you’re a Democrat in sufficient numbers to actually win the election,” she said. “Everybody knows that.” She has a point. Exit polls in Indiana and North Carolina showed her beating Obama among white voters, particularly white men, and voters who lack college degrees. She won about 60 percent of the white vote in both states, down from the 65 percent of the white vote she won in the Ohio primary on March 4 and the 63 percent she received in Pennsylvania on April 22. Black voters, by contrast, turned out nine-to-one for Obama in Indiana and North Carolina, which is close to the black turnout for Democratic presidential candidates in recent decades. Some white bloggers see some veiled form of black supremacy in that turnout. They might have a case among those who choose not to remember how hard Obama had to work to woo black voters away from Clinton before his South Carolina primary victory. Remember those days when everyone seemed to be asking whether Obama was “black enough” to win black votes? Now Clinton is questioning whether he is too “elitist” to win the votes of “hard-working people.” That’s the message of her a Charleston, W. Va., speech a day after her newspaper interview: “We need to bring back hardworking people to the Democratic Party. I’m winning Catholic voters and Hispanic voters, blue-collar workers and seniors. People Sen. McCain will need in the general election.” She’s right to observe that Obama has a challenge ahead in winning white swing voters, if he wins the nomination. But so does she, considering how despised she has been among conservatives over the years. Taking advice from Hillary Clinton on winning white males in light of that history sounds about as wise as taking child care advice from Britney Spears. Yet, as her relentless pursuit of the Democratic nomination has shown, she’s a fighter. Her recent populist pitch to “hard-working people,” “Some call you swing voters. I call you Americans,” she said in Charleston) is an appeal not so much to color as to culture. The great unspoken question in every voter’s mind is whether a candidate is on their side, understands their values and connects with the way they see the world. That big question turns Obama’s biggest asset, his being fresh and new, into a liability when it causes people to question how well they know him - and how well he knows them. Those doubts were enhanced when incendiary sound bites from his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, brought Obama’s approval ratings down to those of mortal people. His impressive showing in Indiana and North Carolina appears to have put concerns about Wright to rest for now, although they are certain to come back in attack ads in the fall if Obama is nominated. That will be a very different campaign from the one Obama and Clinton have waged so far. With that in mind, the most important moment for Democratic fortunes won’t be the selection of their nominee, but in soothing the anger and disappointment of the side that loses. Once the party’s leaders bring themselves back together, they’ll have to reach out and unify the folks who really count - the voters - regardless of race, color, gender or how “hard-working” they appear to be. |
| The looming threat to Israel lies within Mon, 12 May 2008 10:48:29 -0500 When Israel’s independence was proclaimed in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948, as leaders of the nascent state sang “Hatikva” (Hope), few could have imagined the vibrant state that exists today. The Zionist movement was a reaction to European anti-Semitism and pogroms that climaxed with the Nazi slaughter of 6 million Jews. But Arab states and the Palestinians had rejected the 1947 U.N. partition of British mandate Palestine into two states, one Jewish, one Arab. A civil war between Palestinians and Jews had been raging for months, and the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq were poised to invade. Yet Israel survived that war and the wars that followed. On her 60th anniversary, however, a different kind of existential threat haunts the country. It is not a nuclear-armed Iran, nor a terrorist bomb, nor does it come from Israel’s Arab neighbors. The threat can be summed up in one word: demography. Unless Israel and the Palestinians can agree on a formula for two states living side by side, the number of Palestinian Arabs under Israeli control will probably outnumber Jews within the next two decades. And that could spell the end of the Jewish state. “If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights (for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip), then, as soon as that happens, the State of Israel is finished.” That statement was made by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, not by Jimmy Carter, whose comparisons between Israel’s behavior and apartheid have drawn fire. What Olmert fears is graphically illustrated by the numbers. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, its population is 7,282,000, of whom 20.1 percent are Palestinian Arab citizens. On the West Bank and Gaza, according to 2008 figures in the CIA’s World Factbook, an additional 4.2 million Palestinians live. Hebrew University demographer Sergio DellaPergola projects that by 2020 Jews will compose only 44 percent to 47 percent of the combined population in Israel and the occupied territories. He also projects that by 2050 “the Jewish share might diminish to 35 to 37 percent.” If Israel keeps control of the West Bank and Gaza, the disenfranchised Palestinian majority will start demanding the right to vote inside Israel. And, as Olmert (not Carter) has said, the world will start comparing the Israel-Palestinian conflict “to a South African one.” Yet a Palestinian majority that voted inside greater Israel would seek a Palestinian Arab state, and an end to the Jewish homeland. In the bitter, tribal politics of the Middle East, ethnic groups seek communal, not individual, rights at the expense of other communities. Think Lebanon or Iraq, where voters cling to sectarian parties that cement ethnic and religious divisions. There is no way that both Palestinians and Israelis can pursue their national rights within one state. That demographic reality was why the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin endorsed the Oslo Accords, which aimed at creating two states. But Oslo failed, souring both sides on the peace process. Olmert, and former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - both hawks on the Palestinian issue - also recognized the demographic danger. That is why they endorsed a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. But this unilateral step - which undercut Palestinian moderates who favor negotiations - only wound up making the problem worse. So on its 60th anniversary, Israel faces a crossroads. The country is economically and militarily strong, despite the threats it faces from rockets fired by Hamas or Hezbollah. It reportedly has a second-strike nuclear capacity, which would sober any regional power that might acquire nuclear weapons, including Iran. But Israel has yet to find a route toward a two-state solution with the Palestinians that can resolve the Israeli demographic crisis. And in this critical endeavor, the Annapolis peace process godfathered by the White House has been a flop. Israeli and Palestinian leadership is weak and appears to have accomplished little on a final-status agreement. But the White House has been unwilling to press for the one gesture that might galvanize some progress and is required by Bush’s road map for peace: an Israeli halt to all building in Jewish settlements on the West Bank. So far, Olmert has insisted Israel has the right to continue building in some settlements, and the White House has remained passive. Instead, Condoleezza Rice is demanding meaningless declarations of progress by the two sides before Bush’s arrival in Jerusalem next week. Such window-dressing is pointless - a sad sign of an administration that fails to grasp the urgency of the situation. If the two-state concept is to be saved, a more active presidential role in the Annapolis process is crucial. On its 60th anniversary, Israel can stand up to external challenges. But, unresolved, the demographic challenge will eat at the country from within. |
| An Olympics gag order Mon, 12 May 2008 21:50:00 EST When Beijing was bidding to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, part of its pitch was that the games would help promote human rights in China, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) bought it. |
| Holding the line Mon, 12 May 2008 21:47:00 EST The heady days of the Kentucky General Assembly passing House Bill 1 seem so far behind us now. It was a little more than a decade ago, in 1997, when lawmakers, Gov. Paul Patton and business people from all over the commonwealth came together to think really big about reforming the higher education system in this state. |
| Building better babies Mon, 12 May 2008 21:47:00 EST Louisville Metro Health and Wellness Department's federally funded Healthy Start program is a grand success by any measure. In a decade, it has helped 5,404 families in western Louisville. |
| Confronting evil Mon, 12 May 2008 21:48:00 EST Irena Sendler's 98-year lifespan in Poland encompassed some of the worst horrors of history, but she was neither a passive nor a fearful witness. |
| Words do matter Mon, 12 May 2008 21:48:00 EST Joseph Gerth, in his column yesterday, quoted Gov. Steve Beshear suggesting the world would be better off if Vice President Dick Cheney took President Bush hunting -- i.e., shot him -- and quotes former Gov. Paul Patton saying that Beshear would have had a better start to his governorship had he shot state Senate President David Williams. |
| Readers sound off about the campaign Mon, 12 May 2008 21:49:00 EST I am ready to ask Hillary Clinton if she wants some cheese with her "whine." I am tired of hearing her complain concerning the Florida and Michigan primaries. What's the problem? |
| In defense of 'Big Oil' Mon, 12 May 2008 21:49:00 EST With gas prices topping $4 a gallon in some regions of the country, now may not be the best time to say something positive about "big oil," but here goes anyway. |
| McCain must learn to inspire Mon, 12 May 2008 21:51:00 EST Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain is giving a speech to the National Rifle Association in Louisville this week. He will doubtless display his trademark self-deprecation. But McCain ought not have to carry that burden alone. |
| In Myanmar and in Frankfort Mon, 12 May 2008 21:42:00 EST |
| READERS' VIEWS Tue, 13 May 2008 02:03 EDT CLOSURE LEAVES DOWNTOWNERS WITHOUT DRUGSTORE I am shocked and dismayed by the closure of the Rite-Aid pharmacy at Limestone and Main streets. The pharmacist was well-known to his patrons and vice versa, and the employees knew everyone who came in for prescriptions, toiletries, money orders and other essentials. Downtowners now have nothing within walking distance. What kind of city vision is that? All the hoped-for establishments, such as a much-anticipated and needed grocery store at Main and Rose streets, probably will not be realized now that the condo buildings that would've housed them have few occupants. Sure, there is a new wine shop and a market on Second Street, but it is for the elite. I don't need lox and brie cheese; I need bread, milk and eggs, same as the residents of the retirement facilities downtown. Those people now have to ride their battery-powered wheelchairs to the Rite-Aid at Loudon Avenue and North Broadway. |
| Pratt will be honest broker Tue, 13 May 2008 02:03 EDT Compromise demands participation, but the city government's hierarchy has intimidated and manipulated the Urban County Council. That's selling out, not compromise. Compromise means council members should not be controlled by myopic power brokers. Sadly, District 3 candidates endorsed by the Herald-Leader are obligated, as is the majority of the Urban County Government. City government needs courageous convictions, not resumes or mediocrity. Compromises, even pabulum, unethical and prejudicial journalism, have consistently brought Lexington wasted money, wasted time and wasted energy. The Web pages of the endorsed candidates are amateurish PR pieces that any candidate in any U.S. city could produce. |
| Norton will listen to constituents Tue, 13 May 2008 02:03 EDT As a lifelong resident of Lexington, I have the qualities and experience that will best enable me to serve the interests of the people of Urban County Council District 5. I have worked for many years in Lexington as a Realtor, which has given me excellent knowledge of and experience in zoning and housing matters. A Realtor's job is often described as "bringing about a meeting of minds." My real-estate experience will serve me well in collaborating and negotiating with other council members and the mayor to achieve solutions to matters such as fair taxation, public safety, transportation, sewer maintenance and appropriate infill development -- solutions that will allow Lexington to maintain its reputation as a beautiful, friendly, economically and culturally vital city that is the Horse Capital of the World. Additionally, I have worked for the past 12 years as an insurance professional, helping people achieve financial security for their families, while gaining insight into their concerns and worries, such as taxes, public services and civic issues. My slogan throughout this campaign has been, "Listen, Learn, Lead," and I pledge to do just that as I represent the people of District 5. The wishes and needs of the district's constituency will always be paramount in my decision-making. I am not and will not be controlled by any individuals' or companies' financial biases, thus, assuring the public of my objectivity in consideration of the issues. |
| Kiddie recruiting Tue, 13 May 2008 02:03 EDT Even in retrospect, it's often hard to define the moment when things began to spin out of control. It's even harder in real time. But the last several days of news about big-time basketball recruiting create an uneasy feeling. Nationally, there's the depressing ESPN story alleging that super recruit O.J. Mayo was "pimped" by a runner for an agent from his days as a ninth grader with gifts of money, a flat-screen TV and, no doubt, promises of greater riches to come. Closer to home, University of Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie has reached agreements to play at Kentucky with two boys -- an eighth-grader and a ninth-grader. One of them did not know where he was going to high school until last week. UK also has made a scholarship offer to another ninth-grader. UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. initially seemed shocked that Gillispie was going after such young players but within a week had come around so completely that he spent a half-hour recruiting the ninth-grader. |
| No magic beans in education Tue, 13 May 2008 02:03 EDT Everyone wanted to believe in the miracle-working principal. Visiting dignitaries and aspiring politicians flocked to the scene of Principal Peggy Petrilli's successes at Lexington's Northern Elementary School and later at the Booker T. Washington Academy. The visitors basked in the notion that all it takes to overcome obstacles of entrenched poverty, racial bias and disability is a strong leader. Now we know that the successes, the meteoric rise in test scores, weren't what they seemed. The saddest thing about the allegations of cheating and abuse of power against Petrilli is that they will discredit educators' genuine accomplishments, including her own. |
| Dangerous growth Sun, 11 May 2008 10:26 EDT |
| Barrier cables could save a lot of lives Tue, 13 May 2008 10:51:16 -0500 As we have stated in earlier editorials, something has to be done about the dangerous stretch of Interstate 65 in Barren and Hart counties that has claimed many lives and injured countless others. With the state in a budget crisis mode and no money to complete the widening of I-65 until well into the future, less expensive safety options must be on the table to prevent further cross-over accidents. As you may recall, five people were killed in a cross-over crash in March in Hart County. One plan that we believe has merit is installing metal cable barriers. Such barriers, which are being used in Louisville and Lexington, feature three or four cables between regularly spaced poles. If these were in place at the time of the accident they may have prevented the cross-over that caused these tragic deaths. These barriers don’t, however, prevent cross-over crashes caused by large trucks. While that is an unfortunate weakness, the barrier could prevent cars from crossing over, which is a more likely scenario. Keirsten Jaggers, spokeswoman for the state Department of Highways, said that for the Louisville area, there have been 284 impacts to the cables on three interstates since they were installed. One of those impacts involved a tractor-trailer truck that went over the barrier system, but in all the rest the cable barriers have prevented vehicles from entering opposing lanes. These numbers show that these barriers have prevented a large number of accidents and have possibly saved lives and prevented serious injuries. Installing the cables would cost about $200,000 a mile. There are 50 miles of I-65 from the Cumberland Parkway to Elizabethtown that are still four lanes. Although this sounds like a large price to pay, it would be considerably cheaper than installing concrete barriers. The likelihood of this happening remains uncertain because of the budget crisis and Gov. Steve Beshear’s veto last month of the state’s road plan. We certainly hope that money can be allotted for this less expensive alternative. How many more lives will it take before someone acts? |
| Wetlands will be good for Lost River Tue, 13 May 2008 10:51:16 -0500 Installing a wetland at Lost River Cave is a good plan that will filter runoff from the heavily traveled Nashville Road, thereby protecting Lost River, which flows through the cave. On May 6, the Bowling Green City Commission approved a contract from S&R Excavation and Straeffer Pump & Supply of Evansville, Ind., which will get $304,936 for the work. Annie Holt, operations supervisor for Lost River Cave, said not only will it benefit the cave system itself, it will help the Barren River downstream and the also the karst system. Lost River eventually makes its way into Barren River near the city of Plum Springs, so it is important that those water systems downstream be as free of contaminants as possible. Holt explained how the wetland will work. Water first drains into a retention basin, then it flows into the planned wetland and then it flows through berms created in the wetland and finally is injected into sinkholes on the property as it is cleaned. Holt said it will do a lot to help the environment at Lost River Cave. She said the wetland, on which work is set to begin Wednesday, has been in the works for a long time. “We’re glad that it’s finally happening,” Holt said. We concur with Holt. Anything that helps improve the water quality in the cave system and the river is something we should all get behind. |
| The wrong stance Tue, 13 May 2008 10:50:52 -0500 With gas prices topping four dollars a gallon in some regions of the country, now may not be the best time to say something positive about “big oil,” but here goes anyway. Where is it written that the cost for a product or service should be frozen in place and in time, never to rise again, or to rise at a pace commensurate with our incomes? People who think this way know little to nothing about supply and demand and less than nothing about the profit motive. That’s because at least three generations have been raised on the notion of entitlement, and when one feels entitled to something, one believes someone else should pay. Senate Democrats last week sought to ingratiate themselves with voters, while doing nothing to produce more energy, with a familiar attack on “big oil.” They want to repeal $17 billion in tax breaks for the oil companies over 10 years and on top of that impose a windfall profit tax on companies that don’t invest in new energy sources. This is political expediency at its worst. Peter Robertson, vice chairman of Chevron, told me it’s a myth that oil companies are not investing in new energy sources. He says last year alone, Chevron spent $20 billion exploring new sources of energy. Robertson said President Bush’s trip this week to Saudi Arabia is “highly embarrassing” because he is “calling on the Saudis to produce more oil when we are not doing it ourselves.” The last refinery built in America was in 1976. Tighter government regulations are the main reason. That’s how unserious we are about our energy “crisis.” Robertson said there would be plenty of oil available to the United States if the oil companies were allowed to get it: “Eighty-five percent of offshore oil is off-limits.” Responding to objections to offshore drilling by environmentalists and their allies in Congress, Robertson noted that some of the strongest pro-environment nations in Europe - he mentions Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom - lease offshore locations for oil exploration. The technology has become so good, he said, that during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, “one thousand offshore wells were destroyed (in the Gulf of Mexico), but not one leaked.” Australia, he said, has allowed offshore drilling for 40 years without any environmental damage. In addition to the sinking value of the dollar, here is the main problem: According to the Department of Energy, U.S. oil production has fallen approximately 40 percent since 1985, while the consumption of oil has grown by more than 30 percent. According to government estimates, there is enough oil in areas accessible to America - 112 billion barrels - to power more than 60 million cars for 60 years. The Outer Continental Shelf alone contains an estimated 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Had President Clinton not vetoed exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 1995, when oil was $19 a barrel, America would currently be receiving more than 1 million barrels a day domestically, all of it taken by better technology than existed more than 30 years ago. That was when the Alaskan pipeline was built despite protests from environmentalists who claimed it would destroy the caribou. It didn’t, but the environmentalists are back with the same discredited arguments. Because most of the oil remains “off-limits,” we are becoming more dependent on foreign oil. No, we can’t “drill our way out” of our addiction to oil, but we can make the transition to other energy sources easier while lessening our dependence on foreign oil and propping up dictators who use our money to subsidize terrorists. A slow transition will also give us time to consider more fuel-efficient cars and greater use of public transportation, even bicycles for short trips. Bikes would help more of us lose weight and get in shape. A friend bikes to work every day, saving gas, car payments, insurance and repair costs. The specter of a president of the United States going hat-in-hand to Saudi Arabia to plead for more (and more expensive) oil from the dictatorship that underwrites an extreme form of Islam that is out to kill us is obscene. President Bush ought to be rallying Americans, not embracing people who don’t allow women to drive cars. |
| Voters and race Tue, 13 May 2008 07:53 EDT |
| Musings: A fish out of water The landscaping project started sweetly enough, but after three shopping trips, we were still empty-handed. |
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