Thread: 1/ When it comes to Trump Kentucky’s elected @KYGOP are predictably either morally vacant or aggressively defensive. They stand, metaphorically, in the tacky bathroom at Mar-A-Lago amidst the stolen boxes of secret national-security-endangering documents, 2/ leaning against a cheap shower rod for support, and with straight faces tell us their corrupt and treasonous hero is the victim of a political persecution. They comically both-sides the issue and shame themselves irrevocably for the sole purpose of maintaining an office

1/ A bit of an expansion of the thought behind this art:

For many reasons it‘s important that Andy Beshear is reelected. He has a good heart, is smart, and politically keen. His actions - courageous under the circumstances and for the times -

https://twitter.com/kylantern/status/1661390668210618371

2/ saved thousands of lives during the pandemic. He does his best to protect vulnerable Kentuckians from the cruel and dangerous Republican legislation gaining traction across the states. This also raises, and probably answers, the old political question:

1/ I tend to reserve my criticism for @KYGOP @GOP leadership, not the voters. You’ve taken advantage of, lied to, and weaponized your constituents effectively, and for years. But the damage is deep, and sometimes, literally, fatal to the innocent people you target with your hate. 3/

4. If you’ve ever met a trans person, or even know of one in your specific community, do they occupy a position of political, business, or school leadership?

5. What is your objection to them (without referencing your religion, or “sports”).

1/ Hey, @Gannett. First, thanks for the $37 or $45 or whatever it is now per cartoon for the work I do. I know I’m still published by @courierjournal due to the heroic work of our Louisville editors, and, that I can afford to do this for you because I have another profession. 2/ I’m grateful, and continue to send my political art to @courierjournal because, 16 years ago, the real journalists there gave me a chance. But today, you’ve fired almost all of your career editorial cartoonists, and, worse, most journalists. You’ve done this to make money.

As a lifelong Kentuckian my ability to appreciate or just *feel* how the rest of the country perceives the #KentuckyDerby is utterly non-existent. It’s not the Super Bowl. It’s not just reality TV. It’s a thing unto its own. I can’t force myself to have perspective. Does the ordinary American tune in and do a double-take when they say there are 150,000 people there and those people are dressed for the Hunger Games, and having what appears to be a better time than the viewer has ever had in their life?

Taylor Swift In Nashville
by Ken Burns

A thread

1/ “Dearest Mother: We have found ourselves unintentionally but I‘m afraid irrevocably in the heart of what will become a place of chaos and perhaps loss. There is an eery and undefinable calm now, but reports arrive that we are 2/ soon to be besieged from all sides by uniformed, undisciplined but motivated battalions of her people. Roller bags already occupy the overwhelmed streets and sound like brightly-colored caissons against the broken and rough pavement.

1/ The Democratic Party and its elected officials generally failed Kentucky for decades, with some exceptions. But, my god. The Republican debate tonight confirmed that quite possibly the several people in the entire state least qualified to be Governor want the job. 2/ The Democrats failed and underperformed and got fat and lazy and were just not very good, usually. But these @KYGOP fools are cowardly, stupid or - worse - smart but immoral, untalented, comically insipid, broken creatures who will actively harm people to get and keep the job.

(thread)

[Note: A little longer, with social media-level legal commentary] [I‘m no @dancanon or @JoeDunman, also. I’m Dimestore Dan, or Jukebox Joe, if you will]

I’ve practiced criminal law for nearly 40 years. In that time I’ve read countless opinions. The Constitution’s safeguards are frequently insufficient to pardon or excuse my client‘s conduct. But those safeguards exist, and matter. We have a right to, as citizens, expect that certain fundamental Constitutional principals protect us all. Among these has always been

1/ A good portion of Kentucky citizens don‘t have clean drinking water tonight. Do like 3 minutes of research then come back here. From what is your pride in the Democratic Party? From what is your pride in the Republican Party (I know, that’s nearly a trick question). 2/ Ancient - literally “ancient” - civilizations in North and South America made sure one thing was guaranteed. Clean drinking water.

I won’t even ask ”how far have we come“? The question is, have we gone backwards?

When you get home from work tomorrow,

1/ No reasonable person with a spouse and 2 children, falling to earth* in 2022, would choose to live in the United States of America. This is sad. Sadder? Most Americans can‘t imagine this is true. As a result, it keeps getting worse.

*I mean, David Bowie come on but anyway 2/ Imma stop you right there. I‘m a veteran. The son of a proud immigrant who defended the US and democracy itself in WWII. I was the chief law enforcement officer in Kentucky‘s largest city. Save your “libtard/communist/whatever” frightened Christo-Fascist bullshit.

1/ I remember being in the 4th grade. You do, too. I remember many thngs in specific detail that happened in that classroom.

All of those children sat there, the shooter having locked the door and turned to them, knowing, after the first child died, they would die, too. 2/ The word “literally” is overused. The money @LeaderMcConnell and others take from the @NRA is, as that phrase is understood, quite literally blood money.

He’s an accomplice to the murder of those children, the ones who sat, probably frozen in fear, waiting their turn to die.

1/ I write this morning to repeat my endorsement of @TimFindleyJr for Mayor of Louisville, in light of yesterday‘s metro council member endorsements of Craig Greenberg. I know and like some of the council members. I don’t know Mr. Greenberg but I‘m advised he’s well-intentioned. 2/ Generally, Mr. Greenberg, those council members, and I move in the same circles. Most of my professional friends, I suspect, support him. I‘ve been asked frequently to do so, as a result. He’d be a fine mayor, I think, and he‘s working hard for the right reasons.

1/ It’s common among “responsible and mature” political analysts, especially in Kentucky, to consider @LeaderMcConnell an asset to the state, a stabilizing influence in a troubled Congress, and an icon still building an historic legacy. Any such analysis is flawed and dangerous. 2/ And, it’s dead wrong. By the time of Donald Trump’s election he had the power to stop it. He had the power to protect the Congress and our nation from the radical, racist, authoritarian-leaning danger his party was becoming. But he quite affirmatively chose not to.

1/ Should Trump be prosecuted for crimes he committed in office? Should those who abetted him? Absolutely. There’s a legion of followers and nearly the entire elected @GOP who supported his acts who are watching, and need to know, for the sake of the country, 2/ that all is *not* forgiven, and that the Rule of Law indeed survived their reign of immoral selfishness and stupidity. Only the Trump family’s vacuousness and rank ignorance saved the Republic from ruin this time. Waiting in the ranks are