David Hawpe Editorial

David Hawpe had one heck of an editorial today in the Courier-Journal. As much as it is saddening, this is not going away any time soon. The Democrats need to do a better job with not having ethical violations. This is true. Other than Congressman Tom Delay, who are the usual suspects getting caught? Democrats! Here is an excerpt that should be noted since articles have said that the Speaker of the House, Jody Richards, hung up on reporters:

Disappointed, those detractors simply may have "misunderstood" the speaker's early departure from the meeting last week at which Mr. Lundergan was chosen. One version of events is that Richards left to go to the bathroom. On the way, he talked with Lexington Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo, who was upset about the outcome.

Her disappointment was not surprising. Lundergan has tried unsuccessfully, four times, to unseat the incumbent Palumbo. More important, she has deep concerns about his past associations and actions.

Palumbo says the speaker did assure her he wasn't for Lundergan. To which she replied, "You should have stood up and said so."

Yesterday she was still fielding calls from Democrats who were so upset about Lundergan's election that they were talking about changing to Independent.

Maybe those who charged that Richards made himself incommunicado after the Lundergan election also "misunderstood." The speaker drove to Bowling Green by way of the Bluegrass Parkway, which is supposed to be a bad place to sustain a cell phone conversation. And when he got to Bowling Green, he had company at home.

While believing that YMCA official Audrey Haynes would have made a better choice, Richards did sign a report of the nominating committee that, in effect, recommended Lundergan as the only candidate for chairman of the state party. At the other end of the Democratic spectrum, former Lt. Gov. Steve Beshear quit as the party's lawyer in protest, rather than make the aftermath of the vote look like a love fest. Beshear said, "The last thing the party needs is an ethically challenged chairman."

That's true, especially in the aftermath of Paul Patton's defeat in the last gubernatorial election, in a campaign run on charges of Democratic waste, fraud and political abuse.

It's true, too, because young folks who rallied to the Kentucky Democratic Party last year, and want to be part of its future, don't want anything to do with the good old boy politics out of which Lundergan has crawled.

I'm an activist, not just a blogger. If I thing the party made a bad decision, I'm going to say so. I have my freedom of speech (and in this case--press). I've heard, through comments on other blogs, that deals went down. I don't like intra-party feuding but I really dislike it when people vote one way just if they get promised a position on the Executive Committee, if that is indeed the case. Two major Kentucky leaders, Ben Chandler and Jonathan Miller, have endorsed Simon Rosenberg for DNC Chairman. Will our DNC members from Kentucky go that way? Three of them did not have the courage to drive down to Lexington so how can we be assured that they will be at the meeting next month?

Kentucky Democrats would have had a great leader in Kathy Groob. She would have "brought new energy to the party from the grassroots level." She was a candidate endorsed by Change for Kentucky. Excerpts from a December 30th article that appeared in the Kentucky Post:

Fourth District Congressman Ken Lucas said he had been asked if he had any interest in the job.

"I did not," Lucas said. "I've never been a real partisan person. My voting record is more middle of the road."

Lucas said the party needs to look for people who have "credibility and respect and enthusiasm, and people who are realistic.

"The person who takes that position has a lot of work to do,'' Lucas said. "Kathy is certainly a quality person, and if she's interested she'd do a good job."[...]

Retiring state Rep. Jim Callahan, D-Wilder, said leadership and fundraising are key requirements of any candidate for the state party chairmanship. He said he had not heard that Groob is a prime candidate, but he thought she would be a good choice.

"No matter what Kathy would do, she would have success," he said. "I was very impressed by the way she ran her campaign."

Here is an excerpt from a Kentucky Post article dated January 13, 2005:

Fort Mitchell Democrat Kathy Groob has asked to be taken out of consideration for state Democratic Party chair.

Groob told The Post Wednesday that she had withdrawn her name from consideration for the top post.

"Serving as chairman is an overwhelming task, one which I am not in a position to pursue at this time," she said.

I know Kathy and her husband. I thought she would have made a great Chairwoman myself. She ran one heck of a campaign in Northern Kentucky against Jack Westwood.

Don't look for Raymond to go out in style, the AP reports.

Comic Brad Garrett, who plays Romano's brother, Robert Barone, said he hasn't been approached about a potential spinoff. "I love the character," he said. "I'm open to it."

"Supposedly there is a group of people that are out there talking about it that aren't talking to me," he quipped. "I hear they're looking for a Brad Garrett type."

Monica Horan, who plays Garrett's wife, Amy, said her interest in a spinoff would probably hinge on what her real-life husband wants to do. She's married to Rosenthal.

They are filming the final episode this week. I stopped watching once Everwood started but when Everwood is in reruns, I watch CBS--depending on when Summerland starts the second season.