All this time, I’ve been wrong about what the Access Hollywood Tape meant to Trump voters.
Click here to read. No paywall.
Our politics are empty performance
Some legacy
Kentucky Senate floor leader Damon Thayer still fancies himself an old school, Reagan Republican, but the truth is he sold his Reagan card on the black market long ago, leaving Kentuckians to clean up the mess he helped make for decades to come.
Read here. No paywall.
The Big Bag of Meanness
I set out to write a story about Gov. Kristi Noem — potential VP pick for Trump — but I don’t have it in me.
I can’t do it. I can’t go there. I can’t spend my mental currency, my heart (thank God, I still have my heart) on that lurid level of poison. We all have our limits and this is mine.
But this is the state of American politics.
It seems centuries ago since writer Adam Serwer coined “the cruelty is the point” in 2018, the early Trump days. But here we are, exhausted by it. Drowning in it. The cruelty, the meanness, really is the point, isn’t it.
Forget sex. Sex no longer sells. Meanness does.
And meanness is the Republican Party’s brand.
Kristi Noem did not just shoot her puppy. Let’s be clear on that.
Kristi Noem, a GOP leader, the governor of South Dakota, bragged about shooting her puppy, saying she hated the puppy and was sick of the puppy not training himself. She bragged about throwing her dying puppy alone, into a gravel pit, because she thinks a story about hating and shooting a puppy and throwing his body away like trash is what sells.
Kristi Noem thinks this level of meanness is what it takes to get Trump’s attention.
And she’s probably right.
From South Dakota to Washington DC to Kentucky, the Republican Party’s specific brand of meanness is now in our water supply and we are all drinking it, whether we want to or not.
Here in Kentucky, GOP leaders like Senate President Robert Stivers and Senate Floor Leader Damon Thayer might not be shooting puppies, but they are on the meanness train, too.
The men we expect to be above it all, to be statesmen, to lead, regardless of party, proudly and viciously snarl and wag their fingers at fellow lawmakers to prove they are, by God, mean enough to lead.
The sexism, the lying, the racism, the horrifying bills they shove through with enraged glee.
You wanna see “mean” they seem to be saying, fist in the air like the cliche of a mean drunk. By God, we’ll show you “mean.”
Men like KY House Majority Whip Jason Nemes — what in the hell happened to Jason Nemes? we all ask, didn’t he used to be normal? — now spend the bulk of their legislative currency twisting with indignant anger, shaking fists, yelling, hawking hateful, cruel, expensive bills with questionable data … and how dare anyone question them.
Meanness, man.
Meanness is where it’s AT.
Meanness sells.
And the bigger the bag of meanness the better.
Trumpism — and the cruelty and meanness that comes with him — is today’s GOP brand, and leaders from Kristi Noem to Robert Stivers to Damon Thayer to Jason Nemes are tripping over themselves to get their name on the list.
Trump is both their leader and their hero.
The cruelty is the point.
The meanness is the point.
Meanness is the means to power.
And if it takes bragging about shooting a puppy and throwing that puppy’s body into a gravel pit to prove it, sign ‘em up.
Kentucky’s GOP legislature has a racism problem
Of the hundreds of bills filed and debated this general session, it was the Crown Act — filed by two different senators, one Republican, one Democrat — that I couldn’t let go. And then I figured out why.
Click here to read. No paywall.
Taking stock
On sexism, racism, and the bullies in KY’s state house
There was a little girl in a committee meeting, a page for the day to a Republican state senator. What I saw — what she had to see — was both appalling and the normal course of business in Kentucky’s state legislature.
Click here to read. No paywall.
KY Republicans want to put unpaid, armed “guardians” in schools … in a year when we have a budget surplus?
In the Judiciary Committee discussion this week on House Bill 5, a sponsor argued that saving even one life was worth the 10-year, $1 billion price tag on that bill.
Kentucky has the funds to fully fund our SRO program for all of our schools. And yet, I predict SB 2, with all of its flaws, lack of funding, and obvious questions, will pass as is. It checks all of the right boxes of not doing nothing.
Read full (crazy) story here. No paywall.
https://kentuckylantern.com/2024/03/14/kentucky-supermajority-can-do-anything-it-wants-so-why-not-protect-kids-from-gun-violence/
KY Republicans fast-track bill to arm unpaid, volunteer “guardians” in schools
As the Senate Bill 2 stands today, “guardians” are unpaid positions. Yes, you read that right. Unpaid volunteers, possibly retired law enforcement officers or military, who will receive training to carry guns in our schools.
I can’t believe anyone needs to say this, but it is wildly unrealistic to make an unpaid volunteer responsible for protecting hundreds of kids and staff from a surprise attack by someone on a suicidal shooting rampage.
Read the full (complete insanity) story here. No paywall.
KY Senate Bill 2 — “guardians” to protect our kids from school shooters — is a dangerous bill. Here’s why.
In 2023, I attended School Safety Task Force meetings chaired by Senator Max Wise. According to my calendar, the final SSTF meeting was held the afternoon of Nov. 1, 2023, and what I remember most are these two things.
Sen. Wise made a point to thank everyone on the committee and in the audience for being there on a regular basis. This was unusual and nice for a committee chair, and I appreciated it.
Second, I was sitting in front of Rep. Savannah Maddox (a committee member in the front row) who appeared to be paying no attention to those testifying. This seemed so rude and bugged me so much throughout the hour-long meeting, I took a photo.
The entire meeting — like the task force itself — felt like nothing more than going through the motions, another hour to get through, a time card to stamp.
The deliverable on those task force meetings appears to be Sen. Wise filing Senate Bill 2 to allow for “guardians” in the hundreds of Kentucky schools who cannot find qualified law enforcement officers (LEOs) to be school resource officers (SROs), cannot afford an SRO, or both.
This bill sets off number of basic, common sense alarm bells.
- Sen. Wise has not made a budget request for SB 2, in a budget year, so there will be no funding. What does this say about the priority?
- LEOs are no different than other professions — doctors, nurses, writers, teachers, techies, etc… — with specific skillsets. Imagine a warm and fuzzy LEO retiree, beloved by students and staff, but who has never had tactical training or taken on a determined shooter in body armor who is carrying a weapon that fires many rounds in seconds.
- Will there be some who sign up for this non-paying “guardian” role in good faith? Sure. But consider the kind of person who takes a job where he/she is expected to risk their life protecting others for no pay. Rejected by law enforcement? Tough guy who just wants to carry a gun and wear a badge?
- The wildly unrealistic expectation that an unpaid volunteer is responsible for protecting hundreds of kids and staff from a surprise attack by someone on a suicidal shooting rampage?
This list goes on.
I suggest Sen. Wise and his colleagues get a dose of reality.
I also suggest they read, in its entirety, the latest cover story in The Atlantic magazine titled “To Stop a Shooter,” a devastating account of the Parkland school shooting and what can go wrong even when the SRO is a sheriff’s deputy, much less an unpaid volunteer.
“Scot Peterson, a Broward County sheriff’s deputy, was in his office at the school, waiting to talk with a parent about a student’s fake ID. At 2:21 p.m., a report came over the school radio about a strange sound—firecrackers, possibly—coming from Building 12. Peterson stepped outside, moving briskly, talking into the radio on his shoulder. Then the fire alarm rang. Peterson, wearing a sheriff’s uniform with a Glock on his belt, started running.”
“He made no attempt to enter the building where children were being murdered. Inside, 17 people were dead or dying, six of them killed after Peterson took cover. A lieutenant from a nearby police department later told state investigators that he saw Peterson pacing back and forth, breathing heavily. The lieutenant asked what was going on. “I don’t know. I don’t know,” Peterson responded. “Oh my God, I can’t believe this.” For 48 minutes, even as other law-enforcement officers arrived and went inside Building 12 to try to confront the gunman, Peterson continued to take cover next to the wall.”
SB 2 is a dangerous bill in that it gives the appearance of solving a problem it does not solve.
SB 2 is nothing more than Sen. Wise’s final stamp on his task force time card and no more creative or thoughtful than saying to legislative leadership and the public, “Look, Ma! No hands!”
SB 2 is empty, political, performance art. The only thing at risk is the safety of our kids.
KY Republicans privately acknowledge guns are the problem, fear voter backlash
On February 9, Senator Matthew Deneen (R-Hardin) sent out a press release that began, “It’s an unfortunate time here in the commonwealth as we must address a pressing issue, and that is gun violence …”
Yes! I wanted to scream. Finally!
But Deneen was not talking about the epidemic of gun violence that ends hundreds of Kentucky lives every year, shattering our families and our communities. He was hawking one specific bill — Senate Bill 20 — like a carnival barker, addressing “gun violence being committed by juveniles,” even though anyone who is remotely sentient, conscious, half-sober and awake knows juveniles are not the only perpetrators of gun violence in Kentucky.
Six days after Deneen’s press release, I was at the capitol with Moms Demand Action to meet with lawmakers about gun violence and a number of potential bills, including CARR (Crisis Aversion and Rights Retention), safe storage, etc…
I knew that Moms had requested a meeting with Deneen, so I checked the official notes: “Response to email sent on 1/29 stated that Senator Deneen didn’t have any time in his schedule to meet with Moms group.”
The senator didn’t have time.
The dunderheaded irony of a state senator so het up about gun violence perpetrated by juveniles that he has no interest in meeting with moms who have raised … checks notes … juveniles.
The most frustrating thing about meeting with Republican lawmakers to discuss gun violence are not the men (and they are mostly men) who are rude, dismissive, or seem to enjoy wrestling you, an unpaid volunteer mom, down to the mat with circular legalese.
No. It is the Republican lawmaker who agrees with you that hurts most. The one who says, you’re right, but I can’t help you or I’ll lose my seat. The one who says, I’m on your side but please keep that confidential. The one who lacks the courage to say what he really thinks to his constituents, even if that something that could save their lives. The one who says, I have this problem in my own family but voting for a bill like this would kill me politically.
Kill me.
Interesting word choice.
State senator Whitney Westerfield (R-Fruit Hill) has filed Senate Bill 13, commonly called the CARR bill for Crisis Aversion and Rights Retention, specifically addressing mental health and access to firearms.
And isn’t that the conservative talking point after every mass shooting? That it is not the guns, that what we need to address is mental health?
In a few short weeks, we will mark the one year anniversary of the Old National Bank mass shooting in Louisville. The day before he killed five people and injured several others, the shooter wrote, “OH MY GOD THIS IS SO EASY. Seriously, I knew it would be doable but this is ridiculous. Walked in and bought a gun, 4 mags, and 120 rounds for $700. Got some glasses and earplugs…” He fired more than 40 rounds in eight minutes. He used an RF-15 that he had bought just a few days before.
Where is the urgency? Westerfield filed SB 13 four weeks ago. As of this writing, SB 13 has not been assigned to a committee for a hearing.
Back on Sep. 26, 2023, Rep. Jason Nemes tweeted, “Let’s talk about guns. We have too much gun violence in Kentucky. If you commit a crime while unlawfully possessing a gun, under the Safer Kentucky Act you won’t be getting out on probation or parole.”
Yes! I remember thinking. We have too much gun violence in Kentucky. So let’s talk about guns. But Nemes, like Deneen, just wants to lock everybody up. Where are the arguments from lawmakers to stop the gun violence before someone is shot to death, before it is too late?
Where is their public outcry, their big press release, their support for bills like SB 13 / CARR to keep those who are suffering from a mental health crisis, like the shooter at the Old National Bank, from having access to guns in the first place?
Six years ago, on Feb. 24, 2018, Rep. Nemes tweeted, “I’m for mandatory safe storage when loaded gun is accessible by kids; I’m for red-flag laws for domestic violence, hate crime convicts, relevant mental health issues; bump stocks should be regulated same as automatic since they are designed to artificially speed rate of fire 1/”.
Nemes posted this one month after the Marshall County High School shooting where a “15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl died. Kentucky State Police said 20 people were affected by the shooting, 15 of whom suffered gunshot wounds. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 18 years.”
The General Assembly was session in 2018 when the Marshall County High School shooting occurred. Old National Bank occurred days after the 2023 General Session ended. It seems a mass shooting has to happen during session to get Republican attention.
How many Kentucky lives might be saved from gun violence if our GOP supermajority had the courage to do one right thing?
Teri Carter's Library 
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