The Right Wing Radical Repugnican State Legislature Just Reduced Medicaid Reimbursements By 4% More

The political cartoon above is from a time when the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill was still being debated in congress and largely ignored by the general population of our country. TRAITOR Trump, the Criminal Syndicate which supports him by posing as "cabinet", and the Right Wing Radical Repugnican party lied unceasingly to the American public in order to get the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill passed. There was total disregard on the part of millions of Americans to the obvious widespread damage the bill was intended to do to the entire country and to the overall American economy. The Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill was passed by the Right Wing Radical Repugnican majority in congress and signed by TRAITOR Trump on July 4, 2025. I am proud to say that on July 4, 2025, I was present at Rosenberg Square in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, that day as Ned Pillersdorf officially announced his candidacy for the US House in Kentucky District 5. Where were you? A key provision, literally a legislative time bomb, of the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill was that most of the damage it was planned to do was delayed until 2026 after the midterm elections. It was literally a legislative wolf in sheep's clothing and that was very intentional because the Right Wing Radical Repugnicans and TRAITOR Trump knew if they made it effective immediately upon ratification and signature it would guarantee the electoral defeat of most of its supporters. Now, the cat is out of the bag, the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill is rapidly becoming effective and the horrible damage it was intended to do to most of America and Americans has begun. But to make matters worse in Kentucky, the Right Wing Radical Repugnican majority in the state legislature has just passed, over Governor Beshear's veto, another 4% cut in Medicaid reimbursements which will make the effects of the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill far worse on Kentucky hospitals, clinics, and medical providers. Below is a map of hospitals in Kentucky which were initially placed in danger of permanent closure by the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill. What is interesting is that if we look at the point where the borders of Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana meet on the Ohio River just west of Cincinatti and draw a line straight south from that point to the Tennessee border we find that 23 o the 35 endangered hospitals are east of that line. The effects of the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill were always intended to do more damage in Kentucky east of that line than to west of the line. Congressman Hal Rogers and every other Right Wing Radical Repugnican member of the Kentucky legislative office holders at the federal level voted in support of that bill. Now every member of the Right Wing Radical Repugnican state legislature has voted to remove another 4% from Kentucky Medicaid reimbursements to medicaid providers. They did that over the veto of Governor Andy Beshear. That extra 4% of income to hospitals and providers will increase the damage of the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill to a point where the number of hospitals in Kentucky which will be in even more grave danger of closure will be greater. Will it rise from 35 hospitals to 40, to 45, or even 50? We won't know until the closures start happening and the Right Wing Radical Repugnican legislators nationwide start denying their support for the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill, and those elected at the state level start denying their support of the additional 4% cut in Kentucky Medicaid reimbursements. Very few businesses, where they are country stores, beauty shops, and family restaurants can survive a loss of 4% of their income for an extended period. It is the dream of TRAITOR Trump and the Right Wing Radical Repugnican party that those effects will be permanent. It is the dream of the Kentucky legislature in Frankfort that those horrible effects of both the Big,Vicious, Ugly Bill and their own 4% cut in Medicaid reimbursements will be permanent. None of them give a tinker's damn what you think or how their actions might affect you, your family, your family business, your aged parents and grandparents, your child with multiple medical issues,or your neighbor next door who is battling cancer or heart disease. They are happy now! They were happy the day they passed each of these highly damaging pieces of legislation! They will still be happy when your local hospital closes, or your local general practitioner decides to move to a state with a state legislauture and federal elected representatives who give a damn about their constituents, hospitals, medical providers, and citizens! Get used to it! Or get up off your ass and fight to remove every one of those Right Wing Radical Repugnicans from office for life! You have to learn to Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out! You have to learn to defend yourself, your family, your neighbors, your state, and your nation. No matter how much you are hurt they will not come to your aid. The sources of their incomes and their happiness are not the same as yours. They have protected themselves and abandoned you! What are you going to do about it? Your only option is to vote, not just to vote, you have to vote the way you should have been voting all along, STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC, Every Election, Every Race!

Ned Pillersdorf Appearance At The Mountain Arts Center, July 4, 2026

Yesterday, July 4t, 2026, my wife Candice and I attended a meeting at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, in support of the campaign of Ned Pillersdorf for the US House in Kentucky's 5th district. The event was smaller than I had hoped for but it was attended by somewhere between 75 and 100 people on a very hot day which I am sure kept others away due to the extreme heat even though the event was held indoors. Tommy Webb, one of the best voices in Bluegrass, was also featured at this event, sang a few songs, and delivered somoe of his political wisdom. The event was smaller than I had hoped for but still fairly well attended on a day hot enough to keep many from traveling. I would say that most of the attendees at the event are politically involved people who attend at least a few such events each year. However, this is no ordinary year! We are facing a concerted effort by TRAITOR Trump and the Criminal Syndicate which supports his TREASON while posing as a "cabinet" to destroy America and American Democracy. There were close to dozen there whom I have known, at least superficially, for anywhere from a year or so to fifty or more years. Three members of my extended family were there, Jack Terry, and Ed and Judy McGuire who live only a mile or two away from the MAC as the Mountain Arts Center is known. I was particularly pleased to see famed AppalShop filmmaker Herbie Smith and his son Attorney Evan Smith who works for AppalRed Legal Defense and Research Fund in Prestonsburg. I had known or known of Herbie Smith and his work literally since the days of the inception of AppalShop in the late 1960's or early 1970's. I had met Evan at the Memorial Day event at the home of Ned Pillersdorf and his wife, Retired Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Janet Stumbo. Retired Big Sandy Community and Technical College History Professor Tom Matajasic was also there and spoke to Candice and I briefly. I had also initially met Tom at that same Memorial Day event. Famed barbecue cook James Butler served the food as he does at many events in which Ned is involved. His food was excellent as always. But James is much more than a barbecue cook. He is also a local minister and serves on the board of the Floyd County Animal Shelter. Ned's daugher, Sarah Pillersdorf, was there as she is at most of her father's campaign events, and also works as a child support enforcement worker in Louisville. Naturally, her mother Janet Stumbo was there and we spoke briefly about a few issues. Tommy Webb and I were able to have two conversations during the afternoon, one just as he arrived in which we laughed about a lunch we had almost two years ago in which I had attempted to induce him to begin supporting some Democratic candidates publicly since he has often quietly expressed some liberal views. But like most Bluegrass musicians, he has rarely appeared publicly at such events, if ever, since many fans of Bluegrass have historically been to one degree or another conservative. But I firmly believe that is changing rapidly as it is with most previously conservative people in America. Due to the actions of TRAITOR Trump and the Criminal Syndicate which poses as a "cabinet", America and Americans have suffered in a multitude of ways over the last 11 or so years since the tragic day TRAITOR Trump rode down that gold escalator and began to promote the farce that he was fit to be the leader of the free world. The time is long past for all Americans to do our duty and put an end to his TREASON. We must elect a Democratic president in 2028, and we must elect Democratic majorities in both houses of congress. This nation and our Democracy cannot survive if that does not happen.

Tommy Webb Plays Bluegrass For Free On July 4th 2026, at Mountain Arts Center In Prestonsburg, KY, Free Barbecue by James Butler

On July 4th, 2026, Tommy Webb, one of the best voices in all of Bluegrass music will be playing a free concert at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, in support of the congressional campaign of Ned Pillersdorf in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District. James Butler, one of the best barbecue cooks in Kentucky will also be providing free barbecue. I'm sure Ned Pillersdorf will say a few words at some point and try to keep it short in light of the quality of the entertainment and food. Come on out! Bring a friend! Enjoy the music and food! Leave the show with a firm commitment to vote for Ned Pillersdorf in November in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District! We'll see you there!

And be sure not to forget to eat some of James Butler's famous barbecue while you can get a full stomach for free!

July 4, 2025, A Major Political Announcement For Kentucky's 5th Congressional District

On July 4, 2025, my wife Candice and I traveled to Prestonsburg, Kentucky, to attend and support the announcement by Ned Pillersdorf that he is running against Congressman Hal Rogers in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District. It has been far too long in this district since a viable Democratic candidate has run against Rogers. The event was held in Rosenberg Square, a small, but beautiful park at the corner of West Court Street and North Lake Drive in Prestonsburg. The event was attended by somewhere in excess of 100 people which, in my opinion, is a good turnout for a political event on a major holiday which is often saved for family reunions and yard sales. And the heat was in the low to mid 90's all day so it was somewhat oppressive which probably depressed attendance to one degree or another. Ned gave a speech after being introduced which is roughly what is conained in the text of one of his blog posts this morniing which can be found by scrolling down his Facebook page which is found listed as "Ned Pillersdorf". Or you can go to this link on Facebook and watch or simply scroll to the point Ned starts speaking and see this video of the event which lasts in total for slightly more than an hour. I am actually completing this post on July 7, 2025, and some of the media responses to Ned's announcement have now been deleted from their companys' websites. But I remember one in which the writer stated roughly that Ned had given a "blistering speech" about TRAITOR Trump's "Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill". I was somewhere between surprised and shocked by that coverage of the speech I had seen in its entirety. I had thought that Ned had given an honest, accurate, and measured response to the "Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill". You can bet that if I had been asked to speak to a crowd of a hundred in Kentucky or anywhere else in the nation, even Texas, Alabama, or Mississippi, the speech I would have given would have been far more derogatory of TRAITOR Trump than anything Ned Pillersdorf said in Prestonsburg on July 4, 2025. Yes, Ned's speech was accurate, tasteful, mild in my estimation, and a lot less than anyone deserves to have been accused of who voted to support that 900+ page attack on America, her citizens, and the world in general. Ned Pillersdorf is the first viable, electable, and deserving candidate for congress in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District in at least twenty years. Ned has done more for the people of the district in the last forty years than Hal Rogers ever attempted to do. Vote for, support, and elect Ned Pillersdorf to the US Congress from the 5th District of Kentucky.

July 4, 2025, Stand Up With Ned Pillersdorf And Kentucky's 5th House District

On July 4th 2025, at 5pm, in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, Attorney Ned Pillersdorf will hold his formal announcement of his candidacy in the Kentucky 5th US House District in the upcoming 2026 election. He is opposing long term Right Wing Radical Repugnican Hal Rogers who has just voted to support TRAITOR Trump's Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill which will be highly likely to force the closure of 23 hospitals in the district due to the vicious, widespread cuts to Medicaid. The Announcement will be held at Rosenburg Squre in Prestonsburg about one block from the Floyd County Judicial Center. I am asking all my readers of this blog to make an honest effort to attend the announcement. Ned Pillersdorf is the most legitimate opposition to Rogers to arise in the district in twenty years or more. He is a nationally known and respected attorney who won more than 1,000 appeals of the cuts of Social Security benefits which werel levied against a vast pool of the former clients of attorney Eric C. Conn. Ned is also the attorney who represented the former employees of Blackjewel Mining when their jobs were cut and they were not paid for their last weeks of work. For forty years, Ned has represented the poor, needy, disabled, infirm, and elderly of the 5th district when they were engaged in tough fights against a plethora of agencies, prosecutors, and corporations who were determined to make the lives of those people even worse by their actions. Ned is also the spouse of former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Janet Stumbo who has also devoted her career to the improvement of the human condition in the 5th district. Please attend the announcement and join in the huge show of support for Ned and his candidacy. Bring your family! Bring your friends! Join all of us who will be attending in a show of support for change in the US House, protection of constitutional rights in America, and common human decency around the world.

The 21st Century "Fireside Chat": Governor Andy Beshear's Podcast

There are very few people in America who are old enough to remember the last episode, or any other, of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's famous Fire Side Chat which took place from 1933 until the final one in June of 1944. During the Great Depression and most of World War II, the Fireside Chats provided a link by radio, the most technologically advanced media of the time, beween the President of The United States and the American people. They allowed FDR to exert a persona of firm, steady, calm, unswerving leadership to the country during the most incredibly dangerous period of his presidency. Today, Aemrica is in just as critically dangerous a time and the White House is occupied by the most dangerous human on earth anyone could ever imagine allowing to be anywhere near even the most lowly position of power, TRAITOR Trump. We are in desperate need of a person and a media event which can provide the same kind of persona of firm, steady, calm, unswerving leadership to a country in the most dangerous times we have seen since Pearl Harbor was bombed and our participation in World War II began. Our political times today are just as much days which "will live in infamy" as those during President Roosevelt's terms. Our nation is just as endangered now as then and the danger is centered inside the White House, inside the deranged mind of the person who works on a daily basis to destroy America and American Democracy, TRAITOR Trump. But we have a leader in America who is qualified to lead the country, committed to doing anything within his power to provide that calm, steady, effective leadership to take us out of the danger zone which is daily being perpetuated by the Criminal Syndicate which poses as a "cabinet" inside the White House. That person is Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and he is already providing the country with a form of media which can be the 21st century equivalent of FDR's Fireside Chats. That person is Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, and the media from which can do the trick, if only enough Americans watch it each week is Andy Beshear's Podcast which is available on all forms of internet based communication. I prefer to watch the podcast on Youtube and it can be found at this link. The podcast can also be found at its internet website at this link. The podcast is roughly 50 minutes each week and broken into several regular segments, most of which appear each week with a few exceptions. The primary portion of the podcast is an interview of roughly 25 minutes with a major American political leader, corporate executive, or other important poublic figure. Such guests on the podcast have included Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and others from both poltics and business. Other segments of the podcast include "In My Kentucky Accent" in which Governor Beshear discusses some important political issue of that particular week in his customary honest, ethical, probing, and straight forward manner. He pulls no punches, tells the truth as he sees it, doesn't seek to protect himself from all possible criticism, and says exactly what needs to be said in every instance. Another regular segment is a conversation with two of the governor's closest friends, John McConnell and Jonathan Rabinowitz. McConnell is a Kentucky insurance agency owner. Rabinowitz is an attorney and sports agent who is a managing partner for the national law firm Morgan and Morgan. Both are successful, intelligent, politically astute men who have long standing friendships with Governor Beshear, and are obviously well trusted friends. Once in a while some member of the governor's family, wife Brittany, children Will and Lila,will appear in a more casual family oriented brief appearance. The two children often educate their three elders on the slang of their peers in high school.

If you want to see Aemrica become the country is once was, an actual democracy, a safe place for any member of any special interest group to live and work, a country which is respected by the rest of the world, and a bastion of constitutional freedomes, Andy Beshear is the best person to assume the presidency and lead us out of the deliberate destruction in which we now find ourselves and our country. Watch the podcast, share it with your family and friends, and begin to work to support Andy Beshear as the best possible person to lead America out of the horrible disaster in which we find ourselves.

Me And My Shirt Take Another Trip To The Big City!

 

On Thursday, October 3, 2024, my wife Candice and I took another trip to Lexington, Kentucky, for medical appointments and left early so we could eat at one of our favorite places and I could hike for an hour at the Lexington Arboretum which is one of my favorite places to get some exercise when I'm in the city.  It is also a place where Candice can find a nice shady spot to read while I put in my hiking time.  It is usually heavily used but has enough acreage that you never feel crowded by too many people since it is roughly 100 acres with some woodland, several miles of trails and one of the widest collections of plants in Kentucky.  It's also a nice place to passively advertise my politics by wearing a political shirt when I'm there.  Candice usually sets herself up in one of her favorite reading spots and I hit the trails.  

 

Thursday was a bit quieter in terms of how many notices I got about my Harris shirt.  One man who was either listening to some book or having a conversation on his cell phone simply passed me and gave me a thumbs up with a point to my shirt, patted himself on the chest, and gave me a thumbs up. Then we moved to the Kentucky Clinic where we had our appointments with my regular cardiologist.  As we were traveling from our parking space to the section of the hospital where our doctor's office is, a woman passed us and gave us a similar signal of approval to the one I had received at the Arboretum.  I have known my cardiologist about six years and he and I always have some brief conversation about politics and books.  Since he was seeing both of us at the same time, I knew we had to keep moving and had no intentions of trying to distract him with politics or literature.  But as our visit was ending, he brought up politics and referred to his children who are young adults and said "I think this time the young people are going to save us" in the election.  

 

Then as we headed toward an elevator to our parking spot, we entered the elevator at the same time as a man about fifty who instantly said, "I really like those shirts!" and then went into a rapid discussion of his opinion that the Democratic party has made a major mistake by allowing TRAITOR Trump to go unconfronted about his basic and total lack of qualifications to be a candidate for president due to his long history of criminal acts, criminal convictions, nearly one hundred felony indictments, more than 25 accusations of rape and sexual assault, and his connections to Putin and Russia.  I told the man that I agree with him totally about TRAITOR Trump's total lack of legitimacy as a candidate for any position of public trust, he got out of the elevator, and we all went our separate ways.  Then we drove to our favorite place for chicken wings, hit the drive through and got one more pleasant surprise.  When we got to the window for payment and food pick up, the man working that location was a former client from almost twenty-five years ago who told me his story of recent personal success after having been homeless, showed me his pickup truck in the parking lot, and assured me he was doing fine.  Now all we have to do is win this election for the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris.  Then we hit the Mountain Parkway toward home eating chicken wings and throwing bones out the window. 

Listen To Major General Paul Eaton, Retired!

 

I receive an awful lot of mail, at least some nearly every day, some of which is important, some which is clearly junk, and some which requires me to open it before I decide which it is.  But this envelope came in the mail box today with such a clearly worded and obviously true statement added to the front just above my address that I had to jump on here and write a fast blog post about it.  The addressee, who is obviously working for/through a PAC, a political action committee, called VOTEVETS.org in Portland, Oregon, and also obviously in support of the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris, the next President of The United States.  Paul Eaton, the sender in the return address slot, is a retired major general in the United States military.  The organization he is working through and, we have to assume, are both convinced that the statement above my address is not only true but also necessary to be communicated as soon as the piece of mail hits the addressee's hands.  That statement We can have democracy.  Or we can have Trump.  But we can't have both.  is absolutely true in my opinion and, I agree with it wholeheartedly.  So, you need to ask yourself "if that statement is sufficiently true that a retired major general feels compelled to place it on the outside of the envelopes his PAC is using to mail their letters under his name what do I need to do on November 5, 2024, when I step into the voting booth?"  The answer to that question is just the same it has been ever since that tragic day when TRAITOR Trump rode down that asinine gold elevator and perpetrated the lie born in Putin's Russia and Putin's mind that he was qualified to be the leader of the entire free world.  You need to VOTE STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC, EVERY ELECTION EVERY RACE!  

Me And My Shirt Take A Trip To The Big City!

 

I never leave home any farther than to my mail box about 200 yards away these days without wearing one of my Kamala Harris shirts.  The one pictured above is my current favorite until cooler weather makes me wear a sweatshirt which was delivered yesterday while I was gone to Lexington, Kentucky,  with my wife Candice, who was also wearing her current Kamala Harris shirt which I have pictured below.  We had a blast, made stops at several locations during the day, and received multiple compliments about our shirts. 

The first place we went was the Lexington Arboretum where I like to walk when I'm in Lexington.  Candice can find a shady location and read while I put in my hour or so on the many paved trails or my favorite tan bark paths in the woodsy section of the Arboretum.  Shortly after I began my walk, I met a woman on one of the paved trails who gave me a thumbs up and just said "Kamala".  Then, as we were headed into the parking lot to leave, two different women, one walking and one sitting in her car, both spoke up about how much they liked the shirts.  We had short, positive conversations with these women and left the Arboretum.  Then we went to the Kentucky Clinic where Candice had an appointment in the Wound Care Clinic.  When a nursing assistant took her blood pressure they said, "That is a comfortable shirt", which I assumed was a coded way of saying they liked the shirts.  I laughed and asked, "Do you mean to say that it is a shirt you are comfortable with?' and got a nonverbal confirmation.  Actually, in that clinic, it is not unusual to receive positive comments about our political leanings.  Just last Friday, I had a very positive conversation with my surgeon and wrote about at this post.  That surgeon and I have open political conversations every time we see each other.  He is not the only doctor at this facility with whom I have political conversations in nearly every encounter between us and I am damned grateful for their political thinking and their willingness to speak out on behalf of America and American Democracy.  

After we left the clinic, we went looking for a Haitian restaurant where we could support struggling immigrants but did not locate one and went to Sonny's Barbecue instead.  I had found a couple of Caribbean restaurants advertised in Lexington during an internet search but had not found one clearly labeled as Haitian.  At Sonny's, I got up to wash the barbecue sauce off my hands and face, and on my way back from the restroom, a woman and her husband spoke up as I got near their table and told me how much they liked my shirt.  We had a short conversation about politics and the upcoming critical election in America before I returned to my seat.  When I had paid the ticket at the table and was preparing to leave, an older man seated on a bench near the cash register said in a low voice, "I like that shirt!"  We also had a short conversation about politics and I made sure he also saw Candice's shirt as she drove her wheelchair past him to leave.  It is always wonderful to find another person who understand that this is the most important election in American History and is, literally, a contest between good and evil.  I always wear one of my Kamala Harris shirts whenever I leave home and I will until election day when we can all work together to save America and American Democracy from TRAITOR Trump and his cult.  I am also encouraged by the large numbers of Republican former government officials who are endorsing Harris as the election approaches.  That list includes more than 200 former employees of the Department of Justice under Republican presidents.  But we all must work every day to make it clear that there is only one choce in this election and that choice is Kamala Harris. 

A Message For All You Rat Fink, Turncoat, So-called Democrats!

 I like the photograph of President Biden because it is one I personally shot of him when he was simply "the former Vice President" in Owingsville, Kentucky, when he was in Kentucky campaigning for Amy McGrath.  I know it isn't the best photograph anyone ever shot of the President but I still like it.  

Now, let's get to the real point of this blog post.  At this point in history, a couple of dozen of the slimiest, self-described, but at best questionable, self-described "Democrats" in America are on a misbegotten and self-serving campaign to force the President to drop out of the race for re-election simply because he had a "bad debate".  Nearly all of these jackasses fall into one of two groups.  They are either members of the House of Representatives who represent districts which are either swing districts or districts which have recently been gerrymandered. A few of them also represent generally dependable Democratic districts in otherwise Right Wing Radical Repugnican states. The other portion of the majority of these jackasses have the even more misbegotten idea that they are qualified to be President and think that if it comes down to a brokered convention they might be the nominee.  This group includes Mark Warner, US Senator from Virginia, and a couple of others.  None of the individuals who are trying to pull off this coup are remotely capable of winning the White House against even a candidate as reprehensible as TRAITOR Trump. Then, there are one or two more who are already proven idiots.  What they all have in common, and have already proven as soon as they opened their mouths on this topic is that they are willing to sacrifice both the White House and the country to keep a seat in congress.  It is long past time for all of them to sit down, shut up, and wait until several other members of Democratic party who have higher morals, better judgment, and more elevated IQ scores to tell them they actually know enough to be allowed to speak in public.  

Yes, I shot this photograph on the same day as the other. 
 

The question  now becomes "what does the average, loyal American Democrat do in the face of this asinine effort by a group of malcontents who are willing to destroy America for their jobs".  First, you don't fall for their jackass idea and remain loyal to the President.  Second, you work your ass off both in public and in private to help guarantee that the President is re-elected.  That means that you not only go to vote but you also get as many others as possible to vote for President Biden.  You speak out at every opportunity, both in public and in private, in support of the President. You confront this ignorance every time you hear it no matter whose mouth it is coming from.  Third, you wait for the day to come when the Democratic party once again has control of all three branches of government and prove that you have not forgotten what these jackasses have done and do all you can to help defeat every one of them in any way can and to guarantee that they no longer hold any position of public trust at any level all the way down to dogcatcher in some small, poverty stricken district.  

 

President Biden must be re-elected if America is to remain a democracy.  He is running against a proven TRAITOR, convicted felon, career criminal, pathological liar, insurrectionist, domestic terrorist, and idiot whose IQ on the best day of his life would have been 15 to 25 points below that of President Biden today or even as it is likely to be 10 years from now.  This is a race between Patriotism and TREASON, Democracy and Fascism, Statesmanship and Criminality, Morality and Amorality, Truth and Deliberate Lies, Decency and Indecency, Hope For The Future and Guaranteed Disaster on a monstrous scale.  Do all you can to guarantee that President Biden is reelected.  Do it on a daily basis!  Do it at every opportunity and work on a daily basis to create, locate, and utilize more opportunities to do the same.  

Will This Be Our Last Real Independence Day?

 

Today is July 3, 2024, and the United States is  facing the most grave danger of being destroyed as a nation at least since Pearl Harbor.  What is even worse about this impending disaster is that the grave danger is within our own borders, centered in the 6 justices on the US Supreme Court who voted to give a convicted felon, Russian Agent, TRAITOR, serial sex offender, tax cheat, career criminal, pathological liar, and idiot a free pass on having incited the greatest insurrection in the history of our nation, having stolen and attempted to retain hundreds of classified documents which are clearly the property of the US government and no one else.  It is also centered in and led by that very same convicted felon, Russian Agent, TRAITOR, serial sex offender, tax cheat, career criminal, pathological liar, and idiot.  We are living the prediction of Nikita Kruschev when he said " We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within."  That dire prediction from the former Russian leader is being personified in the Russian Agent this country allowed to live illegally in the White House for 4 years after having committed TREASON with Vladimir Putin and Russia.  Just a few days ago one of this country's greatest historians and writers, Timothy Snyder posted a list of "50 Reasons..." why TRAITOR Trump owes a debt to Putin and Russia.  And, according to Snyder, every one of those fifty acts is documented in the public record.  That list of events which Snyder has provided includes occasions on both sides when money has changed hands between TRAITOR Trump and Russian people, probable intelligence agents, and entities, occasions when TRAITOR Trump has done political favors for Russia including the time shortly after he was allowed to enter the White House that he turned and brought the Russian Ambassador and a Russian (Translation: FSB, Russian Intelligence Agents) into the Oval Office. Those Russian agents were the only videographers and sound technicians in the Oval Office during that visit.  What do you think they were doing?  It also includes the deal for useless real estate in Florida for which a Russian paid nearly $100Million dollars, an amount vastly greater than the land's worth. There is also a great deal of credible intelligence that TRAITOR Trump has laundered an untold amount of Russian money through his companies.  Many Russian citizens also have bought units in the many condominium buildings he has built.  Timothy Snyder has been warning the US and our citizens about TRAITOR Trump for several years and his excellent little book, "On Tyranny", is one of the best examples of his many warnings.  But that book and read it closely!  It is small but it is a very important book in today's world.

Over the years since that horrible day in June 2015, when TRAITOR Trump came riding down that gold elevator at Trump Tower spouting the outrageous idea that he was fit to be the leader of the free world, I have written extensively on this blog about the grave danger he and those around him present to the country.  I know that a few people have listened to me and, hopefully, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of others have listened to the American heroes and heroines like Timothy Snyder, President Biden, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and all the other members of the January 6th Select Committee.  But we are still faced with the horrible possibility  that the same TRAITOR who has constantly exposed himself to be exactly what all of us have been saying he is, was, always has been, and always will be might actually manage with the help of Russia and other enemies of America to once again occupy the White House even after the Supreme Court has proven they are owned by the same enemies of the country which own him and that they will never make an effort to stop him, hold him responsible for his thousands of crimes, and will actually assist him in his efforts to destroy America for his Russian owners.  We cannot allow that tragedy to occur to the greatest country in the world. He must be stopped both at the ballot box and in the courts of the nation. He must be held responsible for his crimes.  He must be convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned or the nation will not survive.  The greatest democracy in the world will have fulfilled the prediction of Nikita Kruschev that they will destroy us without firing a shot, that they will take us from within.  We must vote, we must educate other voters, we must take them to the polls if they cannot drive, we must carry our lap tops to their homes and help them register and vote if they cannot leave home.  We must hold him responsible for every destructive action he and his followers have taken to destroy this nation.  We must ensure that democracy is restored to and never again endangered by traitors and agents of other countries.

The Most Unjustifiably Ambitious State Legislature In America!

 The Kentucky state legislature convened on January 2, 2024, to begin the 2024 regular session which will last until April 15, 2024, which will be a sine die day, or the date of adjournment.  They have set aside 10 days from March 29, 2024, to April 9, 2024, as days to deal with any vetoes which Governor Andy Beshear might sign.  However, sadly, very sadly, the Right Wing Radical Repugnican party has a veto proof majority in both houses and any vetoes which the governor will sign are likely to be only on bills which are so abhorrent to both the governor and common sense that he feels that it is necessary to take a public position against them.  At two links below, I will post the individual links to both the legislature's schedule and the link to the link to the page labeled 2024 Regular Session Record. That page is operated by the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission and is updated every day if necessary.  It will contain every bill being considered by the legislature, every bill passed into law, and a great deal of other information. The schedule page will tell you every day the legislature is in session and, for those of you who are willing to travel to Frankfort, it will let you plan to be there on a day when you have a possible opportunity to publicly express your opinions to the legislature by either seeking to contact a legislator, leave a message face to face with a legislative employee, or engage in public protest by exercising your right to free speech. I urge all of my readers who live in Kentucky or have a vested interest in what happens in the state to spend time on both links to learn what is being considered by the legislature and to familiarize yourself with the legislative process.  This is going to be a very destructive legislative session and will do a great deal to destroy individual constitutional rights in the state; destroy a multitude of programs intended to provide health care, education, free speech, environmental protections, and virtually any program intended to assist the lower echelons of society. 

At this time, it is too complicated a process to attempt to address every legislative bill in the session. But I will speak out here for the first time about a bill which I just learned about yesterday, February 9, 2024, which is intended to take away the right of Kentucky teachers to keep unused sick days throughout their careers and add them to their time for retirement purposes which has been a standing perk for all full time state employees for many years. This bill is labeled as Senate Bill 4.  This bill will pass the state legislature, will go to the governor's desk, and, I suspect, will be vetoed as a public moral, ethical, and political statement by the governor who is deeply committed to education in the state but, incredibly sadly, unable to prevent this attempt to further incentivize every good educator to consider either never applying for a job in Kentucky or leaving the state early in their careers to seek better jobs in states with a genuine commitment to high quality education.  I repeat, the Right Wing Radical Repugnican majority in the legislature has a veto proof majority in both houses of the legislature and all Andy  Beshear, the best governor can do is speak out and take a rational public position by refusing to sign such damaging laws into the state code.  We must support the governor and lieutenant governor, who is a former educator, in their effort to save public education in Kentucky.    

As I have time to read, research, and understand other bills being proposed in this legislative session, I will post other blog posts to this blog, may modify this particular post, and will do my best to keep my regular readers in Kentucky informed about the most dangerous bills being proposed by the legislature as they continue their effort to become the worst state legislature in the nation.  

My New Baseball Cap!

 

Today's blog post will be short and sweet.  I wore my new baseball cap to town today, actually two towns, West Liberty and Morehead in Kentucky.  I wore it in our local pharmacy, our local chain gas station, and through the drive through at Dairy Queen.  Then I traveled to Morehead and wore it as I walked at the local cemetery where I met two other men walking, to the local Wal Mart, and through the drive through at McDonald's.  I even went to the sporting goods counter at Wal Mart and bought two boxes of .22 long rifle ammunition.  I engaged several people in brief conversations and no one said a word about my new baseball cap which took me somewhat by surprise.  I had thought that surely someone at the sporting goods counter might decide to express their mistaken opinion about it.  I was actually disappointed to tell you the truth.  I love to confront ignorance and I never even got the opportunity.  Maybe next time because I will be wearing it whenever I go in public at least until November 5, 2024.  

A Belated Liberal Political Action Plan

 Author's Note: I wrote this about 3 years ago and never posted it to this blog at that time which I should have done. Needless to say, I stand by it, every word.  So should all of you who read it.  If you like it, feel free to share it anywhere you wish with one simple piece of cooperation: IF YOU SHARE IT PLEASE GIVE ME, ROGER D. HICKS, FULL AUTHOR CREDIT! 

A Liberal Political Action Plan

Introduction:

November 3, 2020, was a mixed day for liberal and Democratic political aficionados.  While we won the White House, the election is obviously under attack from TRAITOR Trump and his allies both in the US and in Russia.  While nearly every legitimate world leader has congratulated and consulted with Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin is still denying the winner any acknowledgement and, like his puppet in Washington is striving to hold onto their ability to damage America.  Democrats managed to retain control of the House of Representatives and had  a net gain in the senate but the two runoff races in Georgia leave the Senate in doubt.  In Kentucky, where most of us live or have roots, we have an excellent governor who is under attack from a slate of elected Republican officials and a solidly Republican state legislature.  They have extensive plans to further damage the governor’s ability to successfully manage the state in a time of steadily increasing crisis and they probably have the votes to override most of his potential vetoes of their damaging legislation.  The Kentucky Attorney General is joining in every Republican law suit he can in order to further damage the governor’s ability to succeed.  The one bright side to the Attorney General’s situation is that he has shot himself in the foot with his highly questionable actions in the Breonna Taylor grand jury and seriously damaged his standing with the African American base from both parties which had previously coalesced to elect him.  Kentucky and the nation are both under unrelenting attack by Right Wing Radical Republicans. 

In this writing, I am setting forth what I consider to be goals for each of us as individuals and all of us as a group for which we should be working on a daily basis just as we all did in the months preceding the November 2020 General Election.  I fully realize that all of you might not agree with all of my goals and recognize your right to do so.  But, we are small, hard working, intelligent, committed group of politically motivated women and men who have proven over the past several months what we are capable of as individuals.  We can prove over the next months and years that we can, as a cohesive group, achieve a great deal more.  I do not visualize this group of people becoming a major national force in politics but I also know that we can help promote rational, progressive values in our area and, to a lesser degree in the nation as a whole since each of us has some level of networks with other likeminded people all across the nation.  In my original communication to you about forming such a group, I mentioned the idea that, at some time in the future, we might consider meeting face to face at least once.  I would love to see that happen.  But, for the foreseeable future, that is not possible or advisable until the Covid Crisis is under control.  But the dangerous issues being debated in the nation require immediate actions and we have all proven that we are capable of engaging in those actions on an individual basis.  I am setting out below several important goals we can work on and I hope you agree with me and decide to take some actions to support those goals. 

Let me also say that I have absolutely no personal political goals other than being a continual force for good.  I do not intend to run for political office and I never will.  But I do want to put your mind at ease about the possibility that my intentions could be less than altruistic.  I am nearly seventy years old and my wife has been in a wheelchair for more than twenty years.  I am also working nearly daily on my career as a published Appalachian writer.  I have more than enough to occupy my mind and my time.  So let’s look at what I consider to be important actions we can take to help what I hope can become a changed and grateful nation.

Immediate Goals:

1)    Support President-elect Joe Biden and his administration to overcome the irrational and anti-American opposition to his election which is rooted in the both the legal smoke screens and the Stochastic Terrorism of TRAITOR Trump.  We can speak out on Joe Biden’s behalf.  We can support whatever actions it becomes necessary for him to take to legally occupy the White House on January 20, 2020, as mandated by the US Constitution.  We can write letters to newspapers and magazines on his behalf.  We can confront the supporters of TRAITOR Trump wherever and whenever we encounter them.  We can make telephone calls to radio and television stations to support him.  We can each make whatever monetary contributions to his transition team which we can afford. 

2)    We can also support the ongoing efforts in Georgia to elect Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to the US Senate in Georgia.  As of this writing, the Republicans hold 50 seats in the US Senate without winning either seat in Georgia.  If Warnock and Ossoff both win, Vice-President Harris will hold the tie-breaking vote in the senate which would make President Biden’s work much easier.  We can each support these two important candidates in all the ways we sought to help Joe Biden, Amy McGrath and other candidates.  We can volunteer to make phone calls for them without ever leaving our homes.  We can write letters.  We can make whatever monetary contributions each of us is comfortable with. 

3)    For those of us who live in Kentucky, we must support Governor Andy Beshear in his work to save this state both medically and economically. In order to do that, we must actively oppose the efforts of the elected state officials to destroy the governor’s work.  We must publicly, in every medium possible, confront their attacks on the governor with telephone calls to their offices; telephone calls to our friends and random strangers; letters to newspapers and television and radio outlets; and continuing everything each of did to help elect the governor and to fight for those candidates who would help his cause. 

Intermediate Goals:

1)    In two years, one third of the US Senate and the entire House of Representatives will be up for reelection.  In 2022, Rand Paul will be up for reelection in Kentucky and we have several potentially good candidates to replace him such as Charles Booker, Andy Beshear, and others.  We must work to defeat Rand Paul just as hard as we tried to replace Mitch McConnell this year and, in this case, we must win. 

2)    We will also have an opportunity to replace many of the Republican state legislators in Kentucky including, especially, Goforth, Wheeler,  and the entire Republican state delegation.  We work to defeat them by assisting viable candidates, inducing candidates to run, and registering and turning out Democratic votes.  We must develop a plan to register a majority new eighteen year old potential voters, to educate those voters, and to keep them in the Democratic fold.  I have at least one good idea on that front which I will discuss later. 

3)    In 2023, we will be facing another statewide election in Kentucky and we must work in all the ways above to elect a statewide ticket of Democratic candidates including Governor Beshear if that is what he believes is his best option.  We should also do all we can to induce as many of his inner circle of cabinet members and key advisors to seek either lesser statewide offices, congressional offices, mayoral posts in our larger cities, or positions as county judge executives. 

In Conclusion:

This has been worked out in my head for several months although this is the first attempt I have made to put it into writing.  It is at best a rough draft, a preliminary plan, which I wanted to get to all of you before the fire in our bellies dies as we move away from the recent election.  But always remember that the next election always begins, at the latest, when the votes have been counted in the most recent one.  We must keep fighting as if our lives, our nation, and our state depends on it, which it definitely does.  Please send me your impressions of this set of idea along with your honest criticisms and your own ideas which may differ from mine.