Crit Luallen, superhero

What John Cheves is to journalism, Crit Luallen is to Frankfort. They both seek out corruption, and then stomp it into a million pieces.

Fitting that Cheves would write this big profile of Crit in Sunday's Herald-Leader. Here's a taste, but you should read the whole thing.

Luallen's auditors return to the same counties year after year – sometimes with FBI agents or state police to protect them from local hostility – as voters replace the old crooks with new crooks.

Her work helped convict Knott County's judge-executive for corruption. But he hangs onto his job as he awaits sentencing. His predecessor, Donnie Newsome, himself the subject of scathing audits, kept his $67,000-a-year post while in prison for corruption. Citizens gave him a hero's welcome on his release, with a honking motorcade to escort him back into Hindman.

The legwork for Luallen's audits is done in the field by accountants like Bobby Bowling, her lead auditor for southeastern Kentucky, where corruption seems ingrained.

Bowling flatters, cajoles and leans on officials to get them to hand over financial records that could incriminate them – assuming they maintain any records, or haven't altered or destroyed them, as they sometimes do. (By law, they must document their spending, and they must open their books to auditors – but there's the law and there's reality.)

Not everyone is a fan of oversight. In 2006, Knox County Judge-Executive Raymond Smith indignantly compared Luallen's auditors to ”Nazi storm troopers assaulting a Jewish community in World War II.“

This year, Smith pleaded guilty to fraud for falsifying records to conceal the county business he kicked to himself and his family. Luallen's audits caught him.

When he's stonewalled, the resourceful Bowling goes hunting for documents at banks, vendors and others with whom officials do public business. He chats up secretaries and janitors, folks who overhear things.

”If the people responsible for the problems you're looking at are still there and in charge of everything, it can get pretty hostile,“ Bowling said. ”You always hope when new people get in that it will change things. But it hasn't happened yet.“

When scum of the earth like Raymond Smith compare you to Hitler, you know you're doing something right.

Kilpatrick to Denver? Good Gawd...

Let's see, who should be more of an outcast from the Democratic Party: Joe LIEberman or Detroit crook Kwame Kilpatrick?

In any case Kilpatrick is actually trying to go to the DNC in Denver. What wonderful press that would be for our party and image.

Cripes....

(and yes, go ahead and speak at the RNC in Minnesota, Zell Miller Holy Joe. Be gone with you...)

The least shocking news ever

Who would have ever thought that someone inducted into the KY Transportation Hall of Fame would be caught by the Feds buying off KY officials. SHOCKING.

Being in that Hall of Fame is like being inducted into the Mob Boss Hall of Fame.

Aftershocks SURE to come from this one...

Newberry doesn't deserve to be mayor

cross-posted @ BGR:

Difference of opinion is one of the things we all have to come to terms with. Politicians, to a much greater degree than the average civilian blogger, are required to deal with these differences of opinion with grace and neutrality, even when they have already chosen a side. Jim Newberry is, however, making an ass of himself. Not only did he decide to send out these haughty, asinine and childish emails - he decided to call out a respected citizen, Alan Hawse.

In Newberry's third email this week, titled "Values to Guide Future Debates", the mayor called an editorial by Hawse, published in the Herald-Leader, "patently untrue" and "egregious". Again, you're allowed to disagree with someone, but you are never, never, never ever, never and not once allowed to say that someone should "stay out of the debate". I usually shy away from saying really mean things about public officials - but this statement, in itself, makes Jim Newberry this biggest ass in the city of Lexington. What's worse is that Newberry goes on to contradict himself in the later portions of this email and make even more comments aimed at stifling the debate over CentrePointe or any other future development in Lexington.

When you are the democratically-elected executive on any scale, you aren't allowed to tell a citizen that they can't participate in the public discourse around a project just because you don't agree with the person. Jim Newberry doesn't want there to be discourse around CentrePointe or the future of Lexington, because he knows that his discourse is on the level of a nine year-old who just screams and calls people names when they don't get their way. But what is Newberry complaining about? The dude got his way. In case he hasn't walked down Main St. to see it yet, the buildings are already being torn down! What in the world are you upset about Mr. Mayor? can't take criticism? The mayor says that:

Opposing views should be respected, and personal attacks should be eliminated.

What?! You just demeaned the character of a respected citizen five lines earlier by telling them to butt-out of the debate! What are you talking about, Mayor Newberry?

Whatever the rules may be when a development is proposed, fundamental fairness requires everyone to play by those rules. If those rules are inadequate to serve the community's interest, we need to change them and apply the new rules to the next project. We cannot change the rules in the middle of a sporting event, nor should we do so when a development proposal is on the table.

He got this one thing right - we do need new rules. We need rules that can prevent prodigal and unreliable developers like the Webbs to partner with a corrupt mayor to overrun the city's downtown because it can make them some money. We absolutely need new rules. Unfortunately for Newberry, he isn't going to profit from these new rules.

I'm done with this guy. Well, frankly, I was done with him a while ago. But now I'm ready for his career to be ruined - I'm not even sure how hard we'd have to work to do that. The guy has a pretty good headstart on this, already.

JIM GRAY FOR MAYOR 2010

Mitch's K Street abode

(crossposted at Ditch Mitch)

I've noticed something funny about Mitch McConnell's recent letters to the Courier-Journal. Besides the incessant whining and victimization act he puts on.

He ends both of these letters:

Mitch McConnell
Washington 20005

Well, that's pretty fitting. On the first hand, it's not like Mitch really lives in Kentucky, right? Sure, he comes here occasionally for $5000 a plate fundraisers, but it's not like he actually spends any real time here or mixes with the rabble. He is inside the Beltway through and through, and there's no Kentucky left in him.

Secondly, that particular Zip Code is quite appropriate, because K Street is right smack in the middle of it. This is truly Mitch's home, as he's spent the last 24 years of his life fully devoted to doing the bidding of big $ lobbyists at the expense of the people that actually, you know, live in Kentucky. Maybe he has a big room all to himself there in the big oil lobbyist office, eh? With pictures of himself all over the walls too, probably...

It's not a truck! It's an indictment!

The Democrats now have their FIFTH lock pick up this November in the Senate.

Ted "Internet Guru" Stevens is goin' to the slammer.

MSNBC reporting now that Ted just got indicted on 7 counts.

McClatchy's report here.

The Justice Department hates...

...anyone who is anti-war, pro-choice (or admires someone who may be), a Democrat (or married to one), gay or lesbian. Really, your name only has to show up in a LexisNexis search with terms related to those categories. In short, if you read this blog regularly, you probably won't be getting hired by the US Department of Justice until Bush is out of office...not that you were trying.

Heads up Anne

How much you want to bet that this stuff lands right on Anne Northup's doorstep?

McCain: bought and paid for by big oil

Let's review:

For the past 7 1/2 years, we've let oil lobbyists make our energy policy. In that time, they have made record profits. Also in that time, prices have jumped almost $3 a gallon.

Now these same oil lobbyists are looking for another handout. And John McCain, the brave defender against special interest money influencing Washington, suddenly caves in to give big oil what it wants with drilling. And then magically receives $1.1 million in the next month.

Nice try, John. A must read from the Washington Post this morning:

Campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona made a high-profile split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling.

Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month -- three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban -- compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May.

**********

"The timing was significant," said David Donnelly, the national campaigns director of the Public Campaign Action Fund, a nonpartisan campaign finance reform group that conducted the analysis of McCain's oil industry contributions. "This is a case study of how a candidate can change a policy position in the interest of raising money."

Who is Dudley Webb? (and ACTION!)

Quite simply, he is a man who has NOT earned the public trust. Required reading on that matter here. It's shocking that anyone with any sense of Lexington history can trust this con man.

And if you haven't read Tom Eblen's column in the LHL today, you must do so now. It is 100% dead on.

Remember, perhaps the last chance for the block to avoid the wrecking ball is tomorrow morning in Circuit courtroom E at 8:45 (closest one to Central Library). PL has filed suit against the Webbs and LFUCG to stop all demolition until the Planning Commission can rule on their appeal. PLEASE SHOW UP IN BIG NUMBERS TO LEND YOUR SUPPORT.

Another thing you can do:

Contact your Council about the motion that will be voted on Thursday to basically beg the Webbs to apply for the TIF funding.

First of all, thank Andrea James, Tom Blues, Dick DeCamp, Don Blevins and Jim Gray for listening to us and voting the right way today. They need to know that we appreciate what they are doing.

Secondly, and most importantly, contact the three Council members that might be open to our side, Linda Gorton, David Stevens and Peggy Henson. It is urgent that we let them know that the people of Lexington will not stand for this.

More to come tomorrow.

28 tons of fun!

So, last night I went to Louisville (partially to mourn the loss of formerly great Lexington social scene) and check out this "Waterfront Wednesday" that my friends told me about... WELL, on my way there, I notice a HUGE Bush-Legacy-Bus.

My first reaction was 'Great, more Bush/Rove/McConnell/McCain propaganda... '. Then, as I got closer, I saw that it was an Americans United For Change project (those were the folks that busted their tails to save Social Security entitlements from being privatized by the gops). My frown immediately turned downside-up real fast!

As soon as I walked up, I was greeted by a very knowledgeable staffer who explained to me that Louisville was only their third stop of what will be 4 1/2 months of national touring on their biodiesel-powered-museum-on-wheels (check out their schedule here). They, rightfully so, recognize Senator Mitch McConnell as the chief enabler of this disastrous President and thus wanted to make sure they stopped in Kentucky right off the Louisville Slugger. Luckily for us, they will swing through Bowling Green (and MAYBE Lexington?!?!) on September 17th... so mark your calendars!

I will post some more about the McConnell atrocities in the coming days... in the meantime, I can not get my mind off the impressive nature of this bus!

I walked onto the bus, and as soon as my eyes adjusted to the lighting, I was awe-struck! Shocked I was! I was... yes readers, it is true... I was shocked & awed... by the creativity, the ingenuity, the conceptuality, by the totality... and more than anything, I was shocked and awed by the complete failure of leadership that we have endured over the last 7+ years. How did we, the public, let our leaders abuse their power to such an extent?!?!?

They figured out a way to utilize every square inch of this bus. There were all kinds of really thought provoking exhibits on the various Bush/McConnell legacies. I am SURE that it was hard to decide what to highlight, with so much material to cover. But they honed their message to educate the citizenry on:
Iraq War: Misled into Tragedy
Economy: American dream turned nightmare
Healthcare: Premiums rise, coverage fails
Environment: Our future for sale
Workers: Working harder, falling behind
Katrina: Epic failure of leadership
(while the other exhibits filled me with rage, the Katrina exhibit brought tears... even to these very macho eyes)
Education: Promises broken
and perhaps arguably the best exhibit (only because of the premise) was Progressive Vision: Time for change
!
LONG, LONG story short... I was VERY impressed. Impressed with the educational outreach, impressed with the staffers, impressed with the bus itself... and once again, extremely impressed with Americans United for Change!

BTW, the concert was pretty good, but the bus was certainly the highlight of my trip to the waterfront!

There is LOTS more I could say about this museum-on-wheels, but I would rather leave you yearning for more...

Visit the Bush Legacy Homepage and Take the Virtual Bus Tour:

www.BushLegacyTour.com

McConnell acts like child, THE HILL takes notice!

Senator Mitch McConnell, both in campaigns and in the U.S. Senate, has employed the most disdainful tactics and strategies that any one politician may pursue. While Sen. McConnell may be a brilliant strategist, he is also the exact kind of politician that Republicans and Democrats alike claim to abhor. Mitch McConnell, George W. Bush and Rupert Murdoch are currently the largest living obstacles to American progress and the greatest denigrators of American hegemony.

The Hill, a daily newspaper written for and about the U.S. Congress, has been keeping an eye on Mitch McConnell's dirty deeds. Elected officials always dislike getting bad press, but when that bad press is specifically written for Members of Congress and their staffers, then the politician in question looses face and looses credibility.

Goaded by conservative activists in his home state of Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) has begun harassing his Democratic colleagues.

Prominent right-wing groups are upset with McConnell over the small number of conservative judicial nominees confirmed during the 110th Congress.

Their pressure has spurred the minority leader to hound Democrats with a variety of legal tactics. Two weeks ago he forced an eight-hour reading of a Democratic climate change bill, effectively blocking it. He has also invoked a rule limiting committee meetings to two hours, slowing the agendas of Democratic chairmen.

Leading conservative activists remain unsatisfied, which could affect members of his political base back home, where he faces what he called the toughest reelection campaign of his career.

Looks like Senator McConnell is in hot water everywhere... on the Hill, on the campaign trail (thanks to Bruce Lunsford and his staff), in the press, and most noteworthy of all - in the polls... and we mean the real, independent polls... not the terribly predictable push poll Billy Piper just jammed down our throats.

To Alexander Bolton and the rest of the press corp, we wish you happy hunting... and thank you for not letting Mitch McConnell get away with his pathological untruths ... this time.

To read The Hill article in its entirety, click here

Botox shortage in Kentucky: McConnell to blame!

Somehow, everyone knows that Mitch McConnell has a proverbial glass jaw, but strangley not everyone knows that Mitch McConnell is a closet narcissist.

Being ashamed of both of Kentucky's U.S. Senators has led me to closely study them and their actions. One purely asthetic conclusion seems so obvious... among other things that Sen. McConnell does not possess (e.g. a heart, lips, enough political prowise to have seperated himself from this disasterous President, the concept of benevolence), he has no command or control over his own forehead!

Don't believe me about the Botox? Check out this video!





Mmmmm botulism... Botox anyone?!?

Jesus Chrysler

What Steve Shaw says.

Drive people like Draud the hell out of our government. Now.