Conservative leaders, unite!
Fifth in the Kentucky Conservatives Unite! series
What is good leadership in the context of politics and elected officials? A good leader is one who puts the interests of the community or nation ahead of personal quests and has a deeply embedded moral compass.
This individual may be difficult to recognize in a time of societal decline. Gov. Beshear enjoys a strong approval rating among numerous Kentuckians, and many believe he protected the population from mass COVID-19 deaths, but his current political opponents view his Emergency Orders in an opposite way.
A previous post noted that our mainstream news media no longer vet political candidates. The MSM also often report major stories in an uncritical way, without adequate vetting.
For example, yesterday the C-J had a story on the autopsy of Louisville Metro’s former associate medical director, Dr. SarahBeth Hartlage, who died three months ago at age 36. The story said her death was due to a ‘significant narrowing of the coronary arteries.’ She had been the ‘public face of the campaign against COVID-19’.
Many pages on the internet report heart damage in those vaccinated for COVID-19. Mounting deaths from Sudden Adult Death syndrome from myocarditis are reported on numerous web pages, even on U.S. government sites, but most such news is on sites cancelled by Facebook, etc, downplayed by the MSM as ‘conspiracy theory’ websites.
Thus, the unbiased narrative about COVID-19, which is critical to highlight this week with the FDA pushing vaccines for babies, is never learned by average citizens. Only people who actively research for other viewpoints on the WWW will find the facts.
An aside: Do you love children? Share this video.
Dueling banjos
A good leader will question false and misleading ‘guidance’. We saw gubernatorial candidate Savannah Maddox’s concerns in last week’s post.
Likewise, State Auditor Mike Harmon, first to enter the race for 2023 Governor, stated his reason for running: “I just feel like over the last year-and-a-half, the people of Kentucky really have had their liberties and their livelihoods suspended and stolen. And really, the policies that have been made to try to make those individuals whole have fallen quite short.”
Second-to-announce, Agricultural Commissioner Ryan Quarles, is especially popular for gaining control of the State Fair from Beshear in 2021 so that we could have one. He did not agree with the official narrative.
Third-to-file, AG Daniel Cameron, has been actively litigating against Beshear’s overreaches for many months.
None of these candidates has swallowed the official line on COVID-19 and government mandates. If they will remain united in this standpoint, it will be a very great public service.
People before politics?
A recent poll has Beshear at a 59% approval rating. The Ky Democratic Party Chairman has stated, “With his strong and steady response to a once-in-a-century pandemic and devastating storms, Gov. Beshear has put people before politics and led us through some of our hardest days.”
We are in a state of glaring opposites.
Democrat leaders are fixed on concepts and solutions that have traditionally been viewed as dangerous and destructive. Some examples from Sen. Morgan McGarvey’s sponsored bills of the recent Regular Legislative Session include:
Let citizens govern the police
Let the LGBTQ+ sector have special rights
Let public employees unionize
Another example of Democrat legislative goals from the recent Session is found in Louisville’s Josie Raymond’s sponsored bills:
Legalize assisted suicide
12 weeks of paid parental leave after a year of employment
Let local governments enact ordinances regulating firearms
Since Raymond’s district has been redrawn, will her constituents agree with these emphases? She will face Carrie McKeehan in November. Carrie is pro-life, pro-business and pro-constitution— a very different choice for the 41st District in Jefferson County.
Kentucky has many die-hard Democrats. Conservatives can help them think about their ballot choices by sharing factual information.
One last look back at Gov. Bevin
We learn from the past, once again, in this final post of the series with its view to leaders.
Governor Matt Bevin was sued by his Lt. Governor because then Attorney General Andy Beshear agreed with her evaluation that the Governor did not have the right to fire her staff members.* Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd dismissed her case, stating that the lieutenant governor lacked any statutory or constitutional power to "act as 'appointing authority' for the personnel assigned to her by the Office of the Governor.”
A sponsored bill of Sen. Adrienne Southworth in the 2022 Regular Session was an effort to change that statute. Her Senate Bill 247 sought to give equal rights to Kentucky’s Lt. Governor— “The Lieutenant Governor shall have direction and control of his or her office, and shall exercise the powers and perform the duties vested in the offices under his or her direction or control. The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint such principal assistants as may be necessary to execute the functions of these offices.” And much more.
The bill did not advance. The Office of Governor in the Commonwealth is designed by law to be fully supported by the Lt. Governor, to avoid in-fighting and conflicts of interest. (Read more about the Thelma Stovall challenge to Julian Carroll at your convenience.)
Matt Bevin’s instinct to replace Jenean Hampton with Sen. Ralph Alvarado was honed by his experience as an entrepreneur. He was not guided by political expediency as much as by the rules for successful new ventures that require taking risks for any potential headway. Bevin’s goals were far-reaching and innovative. He felt he needed a liaison in the legislature.
About Hampton, Bevin said, “She and I have had long conversations on many occasions … both of us, individually and collectively, have ideas on what the future looks like and things that each of us wants to do.”
Jacqueline Coleman, then Beshear’s running mate, explained it well for the NPR affiliate, WFPL, as shared on its website:
“Matt Bevin is admitting he dropped his lieutenant governor because she wanted to prioritize ‘going into schools and talking to kids.’ As a teacher my entire adult life, that’s been my job, and you can bet I’ll keep doing that as lieutenant governor, too. Public education will be our top priority.”
Both Matt and Jenean wanted to do their utmost to help the public school system. Mom wanted to spend time in the schools and inspire students, and Dad’s focus was on the bread-and-butter issue of school pension reform along with other major issues. We kids loved them both. We were the losers when the arrangement blew up.
Kentucky conservatives unite!
* Hampton’s Chief of Staff Steve Knipper was fired because he filed to run for Secretary of State, which, by Bevin’s rules, meant he had to resign. (Democrat Heather French Henry and Republican Andrew English, who ran for secretary of state – resigned from their respective posts.) Southworth was fired for ‘advocating policies inconsistent with the administration.’ (ref)
** All sections pertaining to the Office of Lt. Gov may be accessed from this page.
This blog series has provided some ideas for the hard work ahead. In the future I hope to blast out some Fastzone Alerts and work on some book reviews that will assist us to be knowledgeable as we share our thoughts and convictions in this critical hour.