News opinion 2008-04-23 Andanh.com

Cowgill is well qualified for CPE post Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:33:59 CDT
It is incomprehensible why Gov. Steve Beshear would be trying to block Brad Cowgill from becoming the president of the Council on Post-secondary Education, given his qualifications and support. On Monday, the council voted 10-0 with two abstentions to hire Cowgill as its permanent president as of May 1, but Beshear is asking the attorney general for an opinion on whether the council violated state statute when it decided to hire Cowgill. This comes after a national search for a permanent president fell short. Cowgill has been serving as the interim president since Sept. 1 and is paid $275,000 annually. Our argument is that Cowgill is an excellent choice for the job. He is well educated, experienced, has proven that he his non-partisan, has the administrative background and knows the job very well, all of which are qualities we should consider in filling this most important post. So what is Beshear’s argument? Apparently he was upset that no one was found during the national search or he believed the search should have gone on longer. Could it be that Cowgill was a Fletcher appointee? Surely, Mr. Beshear, who ridiculed Mr. Fletcher for his hiring practices, wouldn’t be guilty of the same. We will give him the benefit of the doubt and certainly hope that’s not the case. According to state law, the governor has no authority over the council, other than to appoint its 15 voting members. Beshear also claims that he wants someone with an established reputation in post-secondary education to fill the job. We believe that Mr. Cowgill is that man and we think that he would make a fine council president. As Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said recently, “the state and higher education would be better served if the governor didn’t meddle.” We agree. The governor needs to let the council do its job.

Reverse snobbery Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:33:16 CDT
Why do Americans look up for people to look down on? We Americans sometimes baffle ourselves with ambivalence toward ambition and success. We applaud “merit,” for example, yet we turn up our noses at “elitists.” We root for the little guy, yet again and again we elect the wealthy, the powerful and the insider-connected. In fact, we seem to love elites. It’s the snoots we can’t stand. That’s why Sen. Hillary Clinton figured she could block rival Sen. Barack Obama’s momentum in their Democratic presidential nomination race by playing the “elitist” card. She targeted some of Obama’s remarks at a private fundraiser in San Francisco. As reported by Mayhill Fowler for the Huffington Post Web site, Obama was offering a candid explanation of why many residents of economically struggling industrial towns vote against their own economic interests. They “feel so betrayed by government,” he said, that they don’t think government is going to help them. It’s going to be a challenge, he said, “to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives.” With jobs disappearing over the past quarter century through Republican and Democratic administrations, Obama said, “... it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” Voters don’t like to be portrayed in downbeat terms like “bitter” and “cling.” Obama, of all people, knows the value of emphasizing an optimistic, can-do spirit. His landmark “One America” speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention resonated with it. If he thought he could speak more casually at the San Francisco gathering, he was wrong. That’s why Clinton expresses shock - shock! - over his words, even though the sentiments should sound quite familiar to her. Here, for example, is an account from the Sept. 17, 1991, Los Angeles Times of what her own husband said: “In complaining that President (George H.W.) Bush has been exploiting the race issue to divide the Democrats, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, a probable presidential contender, said: ’The reason (Bush’s tactic) works so well now is that you have all these economically insecure white people who are scared to death.”’ “As Clinton sees it,” wrote Times political reporter Robert Shogan, “Bush has been telling worried white workers: You’re right. I won’t do anything for you. Government can’t do anything for you. But at least I won’t do anything to you.” Of course, Obama is more vulnerable to being labeled “out of touch” with middle-American values than Bill Clinton was. Unlike Clinton, Obama did not grow up in a small middle-American town. A description of the attitudes of mostly white factory-town voters that sounds candid when it comes from Clinton can sound condescending when it comes from Obama. That’s the argument Hillary Clinton was trying to make over the weekend. Democrats lost when John Kerry, Al Gore, Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale or George McGovern seemed to be too snooty, stuffy, wooden, remote or removed from the lives of ordinary folks. And, it must be said, Democrats won when the Clintons helped cast the elder Bush in the same aloof terms. To underscore what a Regular Guy-Person she is, the New York senator held her own weekend blue-collar tour of regular-people places. They included a bar in northern Indiana where she was cajoled into a beer, pizza and a shot of Crown Royal, a fine Canadian whiskey. A few journalists saw a geographic irony there. Clinton’s chief strategist, Mark Penn, was forced to step down days earlier because he had been advising another client, Colombia’s government, in how to win ratification of a free-trade agreement that Clinton opposes. Trade is a tricky political issue, not only for Clinton and Obama but also for Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican nominee. Trade brings in some fine whiskeys, among other imports, and NAFTA and other free-trade agreements have resulted in more American jobs gained than lost. But try to tell that to an unemployed worker whose vote you’re trying to get. It’s a lot easier to beat up your opponent as a snob who is “divisive,” “elitist,” “out of touch,” and not someone who “stands up for you.” Clinton even rushed a TV ad onto the air by Monday afternoon. It features ordinary-looking people accusing Obama, who spent years organizing displaced steelworkers and other economically distressed folks on Chicago’s South Side, of being out of touch with real people. Obama joked Monday that Clinton must think she is “doing me a favor” by toughening him up with her attacks for a fall race against McCain. Maybe she is. In the meantime, Obama should avoid thinking aloud in so-called private meetings. For politicians in the age of YouTube, there is not much privacy left.

Kentucky's shame Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:05:00 EST
There is something grisly and bizarre about a scene in which the nation's highest court debates how much pain is too much when states execute convicts.

Don't play misty Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:05:00 EST
State Rep. Susan Westrom may never be forgiven by those who search for new ways to get high. But we believe that the Lexington Democrat deserves a standing "O" for her two-year effort to ban the sale and use of alcohol vaporizers.

Forum Flashes: Good moves, bad moves Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:05:00 EST

'Why is this night different from all other nights?' Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:07:00 EST
Passover started, as so many things do, in the Bible. As God promised freedom to the Israelites enslaved by Pharaoh in Egypt, and prepared to "smite all the first-born in the land," he instructed the people of Israel to put a sign of lamb's blood on their doorposts: "And when I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12).

Stop demolition … Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:08:00 EST
Surely Louisville will not allow the razing of yet another irreplaceable building like the Henry Vogt House!

Web-exclusive reader letters Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:16:00 EST

Thunder Under Louisville Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:08:00 EST

READERS' VIEWS Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:05 EDT
PAPER SHOULD HAVE COVERED RELAY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

A great opportunity was missed when the Herald-Leader failed to cover the April 11 Human Rights Torch Relay in downtown Lexington.

The event is part of the organization's international campaign that seeks to end all human-rights abuses in China, while highlighting the persecution of Falun Gong, the most severely persecuted group in China today.

During the runup to the 2008 Olympics, the organization is hosting events in 37 countries across six continents. The torch arrived in the United States in March and in Lexington on April 11.

People from various nationalities and faith traditions attended the Lexington relay and alternated carrying the torch from Triangle to Woodland Park, where closing ceremonies included speakers from the Jewish, Tibetan, Chinese and African-American traditions. It was inspiring to see people genuinely concerned about human-rights gather for this event.

Library services, programs assets to communities Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:05 EDT
Are books passŽ? Have library stacks been outpaced by memory sticks? Are large echo-laden library halls just for get-togethers?

Some would say libraries are obsolete, a quaint vestige of our past. This is not a view held by anyone who has visited a library lately. Use of Kentucky libraries continues to increase dramatically every year, serving more people in more ways than ever before.

The 50th anniversary of National Library Week ends today. Since Sunday, libraries of all types and the people who use them have been joining with the American Library Association to celebrate the contributions of all libraries, librarians and library workers in our nation's schools, campuses and communities.

It has offered a great opportunity to get to know the library of the 21st century. This year's theme has been Join the Circle of Knowledge -- Your Library; the invitation to do just that remains open.

By using a variety of approaches to meet customers' expressed needs and by providing programs and services that offer something for everyone, libraries have transformed not only themselves but the communities that they serve.

No such thing as infamy today Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:06 EDT
They wanted to be famous.

Of all the troubling aspects of the Lakeland, Fla., tale of thuggery and brutality that has recently made national headlines, that's arguably the most appalling. Not that there isn't plenty more here to disgust any observer with a conscience.

It's disgusting, for instance, that on March 30, 16-year-old Victoria Lindsay was allegedly lured to a home where six girls ambushed her while two boys kept watch.

Disgusting that the half-hour attack, recorded on video, shows her taking head shots and kicks while covering up, making no attempt to defend herself.

Disgusting that one of the girls yells that there are only 17 seconds of video capacity left, so "make it good."

Vision and tenacity Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:05 EDT
Ed Houlihan was a man full of ideas, but he would also roll up his sleeves to help make them reality. As a result, Lexington, especially downtown, benefited grandly.

Houlihan, a contributor of enthusiasm, vision and tenacity, died early Thursday of a brain tumor. He was 66.

Over several decades, he was engaged in civic life, pushing for Sunday alcohol sales, expanding membership to the local chamber of commerce as its president for 15 years, conceiving the idea for the Picnic With the Pops at the Kentucky Horse Park and organizing a downtown economic development committee.

His last big effort was establishing the Lexington History Museum in the old courthouse. And he allowed the museum to preserve a history beyond the blue-bloods and the well-connected, hosting various collections of African-American history and unusual collections such as historic voting machines.

To get so much done, Houlihan operated as a connector, putting the right people together to make good things happen. And he didn't always need to be the one taking the bows when it was done.

Entice retailers into downtown Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:05 EDT
It was a little disheartening Friday to read about all the essential goods one retail business, the Rite Aid at West Main Street and South Limestone, provides to people who live and work downtown.

It's even more disheartening that it will close at the end of business today.

Although Rite Aid's departure is tied up in the controversy surrounding the proposed CentrePointe project, the problems raised are broader and demand the focused attention of planners and policy-makers in city hall.

With this one store gone, downtown's anemic basic retail scene is shrinking close to non-existence.

Residents of three downtown apartment buildings for seniors will no longer be able to walk to get a prescription filled. The bakery across the street from the Rite Aid will no longer have a place to dash to when milk for cappuccino runs low.

Legislature's failures have many fathers Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:29 EDT
What a fitting end to the 2008 General Assembly.

Total chaos. Utter confusion. An indifference toward legal niceties that led to a resurrection of the good old days of stopped clocks and floor sessions that ran beyond the constitutional midnight witching hour into the wee hours of the morning. (Darn those computerized time stamps.)

And most fitting for this session, the really good stuff was left twisting in the wind a wind generated by excessive amounts of hot air when the gavels finally fell.

Shoot, when sine die was uttered, even the roads portion of the projects package that was put together to buy House votes for an ugly budget was left hanging with the really good stuff.

If there is a telling vignette about the anarchy and disarray that marked this sessions final hours, it is the fact that lawmakers left projects on the table when they went home. The last time that happened, hell froze over, pigs flew, the sun came up in the west and earthlings carved up the moon for a feast of green cheese.

Still got a shot at ... paradise? Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:09 EDT

Publisher’s Notebook: Not the first time our worker taken by force
The worker apparently was grabbed by force from the curb at a high-traffic area, presumably the North Main Kroger, forced into the trunk of a car and driven to Barbourville.

Bumper stickers are good reads
Awhile back I had a list of some funny bumper stickers.

Saying goodbye is never easy
I hate it when my kids cry.

CHEERS and JEERS: Leaders drop legislative ball
What we have here is a failure to lead.

Vacation left a nice memory
There was a moment Sunday afternoon when I wanted nothing more than for the plane to do a left bank and take me back to the place from which I was just returning.

Bush and Olympics Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:40:07 CDT
“The journey of harmony” isn’t living up to its name. That’s what organizers of the Olympic Games dubbed the tour of the Olympic torch before realizing that the flame would have to be secreted away during its ceremonial meanderings. It was extinguished at least once in Paris as pro-Tibet protesters besieged it, and in San Francisco it popped up unannounced in unexpected places lest demonstrators create an unseemly ruckus. If they have a sense of humor, the gods of public relations must be smiling. China celebrated landing the 2008 Summer Olympics as a global PR coup that would seal its status as an internationally respectable power of the first rank. Instead, China is reaping the embarrassment that comes with cracking skulls in Tibet and abetting genocide in Sudan as the world’s eyes turn to it as the host of an event devoted “to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.” The International Olympic Committee shouldn’t hold the games in countries with closed political systems. There were four perfectly acceptable alternative cities to Beijing - Paris, Toronto, Istanbul and Osaka - that wouldn’t have meant holding the games in a country where dissidents would be rounded up and jailed prior to the commencement of the high-jumping and synchronized swimming. If the games weren’t a de facto seal of approval, thugs wouldn’t pant over hosting them. Hitler worked to keep the 1936 Olympic Games - awarded to Berlin in 1931 prior to his rise to power - in Germany. For good reason: historian William Shirer says that turned them into a dazzling propaganda success for his barbarian regime.“ In its eagerness to keep the Summer Games in Seoul in 1988, the then-authoritarian state of South Korea didn’t crush protesters, thus arguably paving the way for its eventual political opening. China won’t be so gingerly, but to the extent the games become the occasion for embarrassment for Beijing rather than glorious self-congratulation, the better. The torch should be harried, and Western leaders should stay away from the opening ceremonies. All of this is mere symbolism, of course. For China, though, it’s the ceremony and the pretty picture that matter most. When Chinese President Hu Jintao met with President Bush at the White House in 2006, the substance of their talks was less important than a Falun Gong protester interrupting their press conference. President Bush hasn’t declared himself about the opening ceremony, understandably. If he says he won’t go now, he’ll lose any leverage over the Chinese. But ultimately he can’t go, unless he wants to repeat his father’s experience of rubbing shoulders with Chinese officialdom fresh from a crackdown. Bush has talked about religious freedom more than any other American president. In the past, he hasn’t hesitated to irk China, meeting with the Dalai Lama in the White House. We’re warned that a boycott of the opening ceremonies would inflame Chinese nationalism. But China is a rising power beginning to flex its muscles; its nationalism gets exercised by nearly anything. We can’t be held hostage to the perpetual inflammation of people whose nationalism entails stamping out the independence and culture of another country. It is the misfortune of Beijing that it has lost the cachet it once had on the left. The country is associated less with Mao’s Little Red Book than with capitalist development and rampant pollution, making it an acceptable target for moral censure. It helps that Tibet’s most famous representative is a Buddhist monk and that the autonomy of a landlocked Central Asian region at 16,000 feet is a cause safely sequestered from any hint of the American national interest. Tibet will surely get more restive rather than less as the August games approach. They are simply too good a platform for international attention (the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests began upon a high-profile visit by Mikhail Gorbachev). China will respond brutishly and hope its Olympic stage-management still comes off without a hitch.

Keep the pools, cut the perks Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:38:00 EST
We are writing from the Phoenix Hill, Irish Hill, Butchertown, Clifton, Germantown-Paristown, and St. Joseph's Area neighborhoods, urging you to get involved in keeping all 11 of Louisville's public pools open, and reopening the Wyandotte Park pool.

Grateful for support of federal program for diabetes patients Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:38:00 EST
In Kentucky, over 260,000 people have diabetes (Type 1 or Type 2), a number that represents over 8 percent of our population. This disease cost Kentucky almost $3 billion (in health care and lost productivity) during 2004.

Quakes vs. epilepsy Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:39:00 EST
Earthquakes vs. Epilepsy: Difference? Not much -- Richter Scale/eeg, shaking of the earth/shaking of our bodies. Everyone gets scared and doesn't know what to do. When we had the earthquake Friday morning, I awoke. I felt the shaking. At first I thought I was having a seizure, but then I saw the building shake.

Further thoughts about politics, candidates Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:39:00 EST
I have always encouraged my children to vote. I told them this was our way of being involved in the political process. Now I am not so sure.

Studying genealogy can produce startling results Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:40:00 EST
I always thought that genealogy was for people whose blood ran blue. It was for folks who traced their ancestry to the Mayflower or the American Revolution, not those who came over in steerage one step ahead of the Cossacks.

Democrats, decide! Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:11:00 EST
Physician Howard Dean is wrestling with every doctor's nightmare: a patient who has cold feet about taking his advice.

The Pope, abortion and faith Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:12:00 EST
Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the U.S. has afforded the American media and others an opportunity to remind us that the Catholic Church is "out of step" with modern times.

Finding a permanent president Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:33:00 EST

Heston more than Moses, Ben-Hur Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:05 EDT
Charlton Heston is dead and I never got a chance to thank him for making my life easier. No matter how awful life can get, I always have one thing to fall back on: At least there are no marabunta along the Rio Negro.

If you don't recognize the reference, rent the 1954 film The Naked Jungle, in which South American chocolate producer Christopher Leiningen (Heston) faces off with an army of red warrior ants to save his plantation.

Of course, in this film, Heston is aided, not by a burning bush, but by the love of a good woman who puts the natives to shame with her bravery.

In fact, Joanna (played by Eleanor Parker) puts every man in the film to shame. She speaks French, rides a horse, plays the piano and gives Heston a lesson in piano tech.

It seems Steve Carrel is not the first 40-year-old virgin in moviedom. Heston's character, it seems, had no time for women while he was in New Orleans, and though some plantation men went into the village at night, he didn't.

No cloud over downtown condos Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:05 EDT
"Shadows over the Condos" overstates the negative and understates the positive.

Lexington is benefiting from a diverse infill and redevelopment effort that is revitalizing its downtown. The creative efforts of many real estate professionals are also helping to reduce the demand to build subdivisions on Fayette County's prime agricultural land.

Marc King, one of the Kimball House Square investors mentioned in the news report, has saved and restored a number of downtown Lexington's historic properties. Several of the new condos have readapted light industrial properties. Saving historic and high-quality buildings and creating an expanded real estate tax base are good for Lexington.

As the article said, many of the new condo units have been sold to investors and owner-occupants. The high demand for lower-cost condos has been demonstrated by strong sales in the $95,000 to $200,000 price range.

The absorption time for higher-cost housing is always longer; this also appears to be the case in Lexington's downtown market.

Political playback Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:14 EDT
Making government's ends meet

"I sort of had the impression the cupboard was going to be bare. I just didn't know that the cupboard was going to be gone, too."

"We have a six-year road plan that looks like a 15-year wish list."

"The good news is that we have 18 months to deal with the really bad news."

"We're spending money like drunken sailors over there, and we don't have it, and we've been doing it for a long time."

Priced out of the running Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:05 EDT
Many lawmakers are applauding themselves so loudly for not raising taxes that they can't hear the door slamming on Kentucky's future.

By making college less affordable for families here than it would be in other states, Kentucky is committing economic suicide.

The latest example is a proposed 13 percent jump in tuition at community and technical colleges. A student taking a full load of 15 hours of course work would pay $1,950 a semester.

The two-year schools are supposed to be the gateway to a better future for working people, single parents, young adults who struggled in high school and those who can't afford to leave home.

In other words, the very people who must upgrade their knowledge and skills if Kentucky is to have a chance of pulling itself out of poverty and competing.

Lose-lose situation Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:05 EDT
With March Madness still semi-fresh in the memory, think of the 2008 General Assembly from a basketball perspective.

This session should have played out as a two-on-one break, with a Democratic governor and a Democratic House majority taking the offense to the Republican-controlled Senate.

Of course, teamwork remains a foreign concept for many Democrats, and particularly so for the Kentucky variety. As Gov. Steve Beshear -- quoting the late Will Rogers -- noted in a mid-session interview with the Herald-Leader, "I'm not a member of any organized political party; I'm a Democrat."

Never have the homespun humorist's words been put to more appropriate use than in Beshear's reference to the Democratic disarray during this session.

As a result of that disarray, what should have been a two-on-one break became something of a one-on-one-on-one-on-one game, with Beshear and a split House Democratic leadership doing the individual free-lance thing, not only against Senate Republicans but against one another as well.

Lethal injections Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:08 EDT

Auction is a great thing for our city Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:34:58 -0500
Having a city auction to sell items such as paintball guns, DVD players, bicycles, cameras and other items is a good way to get rid of surplus property and also a chance for people to get good, quality merchandise for a reasonable price. On Saturday, the city will have its annual city surplus property auction at the City Works Parking Garage at 611 Raven St. Also for sale at the auction will be various items from city departments such as desk chairs, desks, computers, calculators, TVs and printers. There is also more than 100 knives that were mostly taken from Warren County Regional Jail inmates. Several trucks will be also be sold, along with lawn-care and exercise equipment. State law requires the city to sell its surplus property or let another public agency use it, rather than discard any items of value. This is a great opportunity for citizens to come out and get that bargain they’re looking for. Another benefit is that proceeds from items bought by non-city agencies such as the planning commission will go back to these agencies. Everything else will go into the city’s general fund. One item in abundant supply at the auction is bicycles. There will be 155 bikes for sale, most of them were seized or recovered by police and the owners couldn’t be found. Proceeds from bicycle sales goes to CrimeStoppers. This leads us to a really good point regarding more people registering their bicycles. The Bowling Green Police Department has recently created an online registry designed to help reunite hundreds of bicycle owners with their property. Each year, hundreds of unclaimed bicycles sit in city storage until the city has an auction and the item is sold for lack of a serial number. With this new Web site, www.bgky.org/police/bike_registry.php, more people could recover items stolen from them. This auction is a great thing for our city.

Execute the guilty Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:34:11 -0500
The Supreme Court has ruled 7-2 that the death penalty by lethal injection in Kentucky, which uses a cocktail of three drugs, is not a violation of the Constitution’s prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment.” Other states, which had placed their lethal injection methods on hold pending a court ruling, are now expected to proceed. No news report I saw appreciated the irony of the 7-2 vote, the same margin by which the court decided in 1973 that unborn babies could be killed in any manner, with or without drugs to dull their pain. As death penalty opponents on and off the court lament the execution of convicted murderers who are getting their just desserts, some definitions might be helpful. The two phrases associated with this procedure are “death penalty” and “capital punishment.” The word penalty is defined by Dictionary.com as “a punishment imposed or incurred for a violation of law or rule.” Another definition includes the word “consequence.” Punishment is defined as “a penalty inflicted for an offense.” It is this last one that gets to the heart of the conflict in a culture that takes as its foundational principle, “It can’t be wrong if it feels so right.” Fewer of us recall a time when a standard for distinguishing right from wrong and evil from good enjoyed wide acceptance. Now bad behavior enjoys nonstop TV coverage and evil is what the other political party does. The idea that a death penalty might be deserved seems foreign. In self-defense, most see nothing wrong with taking a life if another person is about to take theirs. It is only if the killer succeeds that some strange notion kicks in that the killer’s life suddenly inherits value and comes under constitutional protection. Conversely, the unborn child, according to the same court, only has a right to live if the woman carrying it gives it that right. Should she decide not to give birth, any method, including drug cocktails, is allowed. It mocks life when anti-death penalty people advocate for the guilty, while caring nothing for the unborn. Justice John Paul Stevens, who voted with the majority that restored capital punishment in 1976, announced in his dissenting opinion in the Kentucky case his reliance on his “own experience” in reaching his decision to now oppose the procedure in all instances. This sums up the tension between those who believe in what the Constitution says and those who believe in their own feelings as to what it should say. This is why elections matter and this year’s election matters more than any in recent years. Here’s another gem from the written opinions of the justices. Justice Samuel Alito referred to the ethics rules of the medical profession, which, he said, bar them from taking part in executions. This was one of the issues in the Kentucky case where it was argued that nonprofessionals might not administer the drugs properly and thus might inflict excruciating pain. Two things about this: first, “medical ethics” have not prevented a good number of doctors from performing abortions and a few from engaging in “assisted suicide” at the other end of life; second, I like what Chief Justice Roberts said in his majority opinion: “Some risk of pain is inherent in any method of execution - no matter how humane - if only from the prospect of error in following the required procedure. It is clear, then, that the Constitution does not demand the avoidance of all risk of pain in carrying out executions.” As the court leans more conservative, it is beginning to take into consideration the pain inflicted by murderers on victims and the lifelong emotional pain on victims’ families. DNA is aiding in reducing the likelihood that those wrongly convicted will be executed. Death penalty opponents are correct when they note that not all capital cases enjoy even minimally competent counsel. That needs to be corrected, but the court majority is right in the Kentucky case. As states begin again to execute the guilty, perhaps the concept of “just desserts” is making a comeback, even in our feel-good culture.

On Broadway Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:02:00 EST
The Louisville Metro Police Department's decision in 2006 to close Broadway to most traffic over Kentucky Derby weekend was very controversial.

Student credit crunch Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:54:00 EST
Even in a good year, when the economy is humming along, the bureaucratic work involved in funding student loans is not simple.

Davis bicentennial Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:58:00 EST
If the letter writer did not understand the meaning of all the Confederate battle flags being displayed in Benton during Tater Day, why didn't he ask some of those displaying the flag?

Beshear said to be neutral in Senate race Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:59:00 EST
Nominating Kentucky's trustworthy senatorial candidate Greg Fischer, "the Real Democrat," on May 20 is essential for the health of our state and our country.

Kentucky case: a matter of life and death Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:59:00 EST
The Supreme Court has ruled 7-2 that the death penalty by lethal injection in Kentucky, which uses a cocktail of three drugs, is not a violation of the Constitution's prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment."

Race is a divisive issue in Indiana's primary Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:01:00 EST
Joe Volpi, a 39-year-old factory worker in Lafayette, and Tom Lewis, a 62-year-old lawyer in Gary, both say race had nothing to do with their support for Sen. Barack Obama.

Don't fence them in: small towns, big dreams Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:02:00 EST
Stereotypes often contain at least a grain of truth. So it is with Sen. Barack Obama's remarks about "bitter" residents of small-town America who "cling" to their faith in God and the Second Amendment, who fear free trade, and who distrust those unlike themselves.

Kentucky fails without smart, bipartisan leadership Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:03:00 EST
Kentucky is at a crossroads. I cannot remember a time in my adult life when Kentucky more desperately needs smart, thoughtful, progressive, bipartisan leadership. I also cannot remember a time when I have been more thoroughly disappointed in what our state government failed to accomplish in the recently completed session.

Stress Test Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:48:00 EST

U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis has made national news Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:08:00 EST
U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis has made national news in with a remark he made recently at a Republican fundraising event. He was quoted as saying of Sen. Barack Obama: "That boy's finger does not need to be on the button…"

Election letters Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:55 EDT

The deadline for letters concerning the May 20 primary election is 5 p.m. May 13. Submissions are limited to 150 words. We do not accept letters from candidates, their campaign staffers or family members. Form letters will be rejected.

Support bill requiring fair pay for women Tue, 22 Apr 2008 02:06 EDT
This is National Equal Pay Day. According to the National Committee on Pay Equity, the day is observed on a designated Tuesday in the month of April because a woman must work this far into the year on average to earn as much as a man earned the previous year. (Tuesday is the day on which women's wages catch up to men's from the previous week).

Eliminating wage discrimination should be a top priority for Kentucky employers. Kentucky women's earnings don't even measure up to the national average. In fact, we rank 44th in median annual earnings for women.

Hats off to state Rep. Mary Lou Marzian for again filing a bill to address the wage disparity in Kentucky. Unfortunately it was never called for a committee vote in the Senate this year.

Although it is well known that women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn and that African-American women and Latinas earn even less (68 cents and 57 cents, respectively), it is not well understood that pay equity is more than equal pay. It's also about comparable worth.

Historically some jobs and sectors -- such as nursing, child care and secretarial -- are female-typed. Over the years many employers titled and filled positions according to gender, before considering experience and education. For example, if a company needed a secretary, only women were expected to apply. If a company needed an account executive, women need not apply. In other words, certain jobs paid less because they would be filled by women.

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