THOMAS (THE JACKASS) MASSIE-MAKING KENTUCKY PROUD. NOT!!!
From the same part of the Commonwealth that brought us “GRANDSTAND” Rand Paul, we now have Thomas (THE JACKASS) Massie, who yesterday during a Congressional Committee hearing on climate change once again demonstrated for all the world to see why Northern Kentucky, with its Covington Catholic student vs Native American vs Washington Post vs CNN controversy, its Assumption Academy chickenpox court case and now Thomas Massie’s ignorance is indeed home to the most far right and ignorant people in the Commonwealth. It’s no wonder people in the state’s two largest cities, Louisville and Lexington, barely recognize the existence of this area, with it’s dozens of little cities in search of an identity they can call their own instead of being viewed as an extension of Cincinnati. I think it might REALLY be in Ohio like the Cincinnati airport is in Kentucky! Massie is an extremist in his political views, a true Tea Party conservative and his denial of climate change belies his educational background as an engineering graduate from MIT. His political beliefs more closely fit into those of his birthplace, West Virginia than those of a well educated engineer. Some examples of his extreme positions are as follows. In 2017, Massie introduced a one-page bill that would abolish the United States Department of Education,[44] and cosponsored a bill that would abolish the Environmental Protection Agency.[45] In April 2017, Massie expressed skepticism over the role of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the 2017 Khan Shaykhun chemical attack. On May 4, 2017, Massie was the sole House member to vote against sanctions on North Korea, which the final vote was 419-1.[ In July 2017, Thomas Massie joined Reps. Justin Amash, John Duncan Jr. (R-TN) and Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in opposing a bill that would impose new economic sanctions against Russia, Iran, and North Korea. President Trump opposed the bill, pointing out that relations with Russia were already "at an all-time and dangerous low". He did, however, sign the bill though likely out of political pressure. These are but a few examples of his political ideology. He is a shining example of the Tea Party idiots that seem to sprout up in this part of the state like weeds, and yet the people of northern Kentucky (or is it southern OHIO?!?) continue to send these buffoons back to Washington to represent them and to embarrass the rest of the Commonwealth. This is how “Rolling Stone” magazine characterized the exchange. “Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) may have studied robotics at MIT, but he is now responsible for one of the most asinine moments in congressional history”. “At a House committee hearing Tuesday on “The Need for Leadership to Combat Climate Change and Protect National Security,” the Kentucky Republican thought he could impugn former secretary of state John Kerry. Kerry is an expert on climate change who helped broker the Paris climate accord and recently criticized president Trump for proposing to set up a task force that seeks to counter the scientific consensus on climate change. Massie calls advocates of climate action “alarmists” and believes that the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is “plant food.” You can read the actual verbal exchange online, but suffice to say Massie and his REPUBLIKAN colleagues on this Committee- just look at the picture-these are three of the most ignorant buffoons in Congress who you will EVER see pictured together did nothing but provide more fodder for anybody who takes the subject of climate change seriously and those ignorant REPUBLIKANS who don’t with a grain of salt. And, once again, a Kentucky REPUBLIKAN politician has made us all KENTUCKY PROUD. NOT!!!
0 Comments
MEASLES OUTBREAK FUELED BY IGNORANCE AND MISINFORMATION Every day now on the nightly news we hear about another part of the country afflicted with an outbreak of measles. The last couple of days it’s been NewYork city and the surrounding areas. Prior to that there was news about an outbreak in Washington State. Kentucky has seen an outbreak and already had a judge rule on the ability of local health officials to ban students from attending class or participating in extracurricular activities as a result of their NOT being vaccinated. The various stories got me to wondering why in the world parents would be reluctant to have their children vaccinated against diseases that were wiped out in my lifetime BECAUSE of vaccinations, such as mumps, whooping cough and chickenpox. So I did a little research, and came away wondering how people can be so ignorant or oblivious to cold hard facts, choosing rather to believe what they read on Twitter or Face book or what they hear from Oprah Winfrey or Jenny McCarthy. Seriously!?! There are those who perhaps object on religious grounds. The use of fetal tissue in the development of vaccines has also provoked some controversy among religions opposed to abortion. The cell culture media of some viral vaccines, and the virus of the rubella vaccine, are derived from tissues taken from therapeutic abortions performed in the 1960s, leading to moral questions. For example, the principle of double effect, originated by Thomas Aquinas, holds that actions with both good and bad consequences are morally acceptable in specific circumstances, and the question is how this principle applies to vaccination. The Vatican Curia has expressed concern about the rubella vaccine's embryonic cell origin, saying Catholics have "...a grave responsibility to use alternative vaccines and to make a conscientious objection with regard to those which have moral problems."The Vatican concluded that until an alternative becomes available it is acceptable for Catholics to use the existing vaccine, writing, "This is an unjust alternative choice, which must be eliminated as soon as possible.”. Christian Science selectively rejects various forms of medical care including vaccination. In the U.S., all states except Mississippi, California and West Virginia allow parents to opt out of their children's otherwise-mandatory vaccinations for religious reasons. The number of religious exemptions rose greatly in the late 1990s and early 2000s; for example, in Massachusetts, the rate of those seeking exemptions rose from 0.24% in 1996 to 0.60% in 2006.[49] Some parents falsely claim religious beliefs to get exemptions.[50] The American Medical Association opposes such exemptions, saying that they endanger health not only for the unvaccinated individual but also for neighbors and the community at large. This was the case in Kentucky where a student at a Catholic High School was not allowed to come back to his school as a result of a measles outbreak; most of the students were NOT vaccinated citing religious reasons. But the court ruled that the local health department did indeed have the right to ban this individual from participation in school activities because he was NOT vaccinated as a protective measure against the further spread of the disease. There are more parents who mistakenly believe that vaccination causes autism, a statement championed by Jenny McCarthy (who takes their medical advise from an ex Playboy Playmate whose claim to fame is farting?!?) which is in actuality without ANY credible basis in fact. Others claim vaccinations will harm their child or worse yet kill them. No, what WILL kill them and perhaps others who are exposed to the disease is the disease itself!!! There would be no problem if vaccinations were mandatory, as they were when I grew up. There was NO religious exemptions-you goy vaccinated or you didn’t go to school. I think what we are seeing today is the result of these ill advised exemptions being permitted or the ill informed parents who put EVERYBODY else’s children at risk by NOT having little Johnny or Suzy vaccinated like everybody else. It’s time for common sense to trump (bad choice of verbiage!!) ignorance and exemptions. Otherwise, we haven’t seen the worst of these outbreaks, not by a long shot!!! Have your child vaccinated or home school them. It’s really pretty simple. There’s too much grey in an area that should really be black and white. We had these diseases eradicated, and now they’re back because of ignorance and disinformation. It’s really a shame. Shame on those parents who call themselves informed when they are in fact sadly misinformed and misguided. And their children and others are now paying the price for it. WORST WING POSITION(S) AVAILABLE
WHAT: Administrative up to and including Cabinet Level Positions WHERE: Washington D.C. THE WORST WING WHO: Qualifications as follows: · Ideal candidate will lie, cheat, steal and otherwise do ANYTHING to protect the BOSS. · Candidate will be a REPUBLIKAN. · Applicant must have legal counsel on retainer at all times. · Candidate will be a member in good standing with the NRA. · Applicant will NEVER say anything derogatory about the BOSS. · Candidate only watches FAUX NEWS. · Applicant MUST play golf, lie about his handicap and consistently improve his lie, both figuratively and literally! · Will be on a first name basis with at least one Russian, preferably an oligarch. · Applicant should preferably be an Anglo Saxon male over the age of 70. Women may also apply if they possess certain specific physical qualifications. · Ideal candidate will have been under investigation in the last three years by the DOJ, Congress or the FBI. · Must have been engaged in an adulterous affair with a playmate, porn star or equivalent within the past two years. · Applicant will relinquish ALL personal wealth in order to help fund the border wall. · Candidate will hate people of color, Democrats, LGBT communities at large and despise SHI*HOLE countries like Guatemala or El Salvador or someplace in Africa. · Will wear required uniform at ALL times-Dark suit and tie (6” minimum below the beltline) and red “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN baseball cap. Cap must be worn with the bill facing forward. · Must claim to be Evangelical and deeply religious while at the same time supporting the BOSS and defending his lies, cheating, bigotry, racism and adultery in the name of having right wing judicial members appointed to the courts. · Eat fast food three times a day, including Big Macs, Whoppers and Triple Stacks as well as pizza of any variety. · Work for weeks at a time with no pay in order to support the BOSS and his temper tantrums when things don’t go his way. · Support other despots and criminals globally, like Putin, Kim Jong-un, MBS and Netanyahu. · Accept bribes from foreign governments in order to influence American foreign policy. · Appoint family members to key positions without regard to qualifications or conflicts of interest. · Cater to the needs of the one percent at the expense of the average working man and woman. · NEVER EVER divulge income tax returns. These positions require TOTAL and COMPLETE subjugation to the BOSS. “CABINET OF CLOWNS” positions require the ability to take extreme verbal abuse, both in person at Cabinet meetings or publicly via Twitter. You will be expected to resign your position or be terminated by the BOSS within two years of your employment, like two-thirds of the previous employees. These jobs represent all the glamour that could be expected from a high ranking position in the fast paced world of Washington politics, from golfing with the BOSS to burning the midnight oil in the WORST WING-you will find yourself caught up in a web so all encompassing there will be no escape until your burnt up remains are discovered in a dumpster near Mar a lago, next to a Chinese spy. But what a ride it will be before that fateful moment when you realize your shelf life has expired like that of sour milk and you read about your termination via tweet. Drug testing will be a requirement, though the results will be discounted. Honest, hard working individuals who have no previous record and are drug free NEED NOT APPLY. NIELSON GOES OVER THE WALL!!!!
What’s the name of that great Queen song….”ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST” I believe is what I’m thinking of upon hearing the news that Kirstjen Nielson has resigned (or been fired by tweet!) as Secretary of Homeland Security over disagreements with Trump advisor Stephen (THE KILLER) Miller and the shameful immigration policies that the administration is pursuing for strictly political reasons. She becomes the latest in an ongoing series of Cabinet level firings, resignations or policy disagreements which has afflicted CROOKED DONALD’S “CABINET OF CLOWNS” from the beginning of his embarrassing tenure in the Oval Office. She was, after all, John Kelly’s “girl”, not Trump’s, and Trump had used her shelf life up as of this past Friday during his incredibly inept performance at the border with her. His outrageous claims and misstatements (or bald faced lies) regarding what is going on at our southern border might have been too much for even this agent of the abhorrent policy of child separation to bear, and now she’s gone. She’ll probably write a book and then will know precisely what evil goes on in the decision making of our ill advised immigration and border protection policies between Miller (an absolute hawk on zero tolerance and zero immigration frankly!) and Trump. Perhaps she realized that the entire border security thing was “Trumped” up from the start during his election campaign, and when he saw that it resonated with his ignorant base and then lied about having Mexico pay for his wall it became a permanent staple in his cupboard of political lies, misstatements and the manipulation of his supporters. Then, even worse, he used it as an excuse to declare a "national emergency" and shut down the government then attempted to blame the Democrats. Literally hundreds of thousands of hard working government employees went without pay because of his temper tantrum over funding for the wall only he wants, many of who have still not been paid for the time they worked during the shut down. He tried to use the wall, border security and immigration as a political weapon against the Democrats in the mid term elections, also failing miserably and ceding control of the House of Representatives to the Democrats as a result of his actions. I heard the other day that there were literally THOUSANDS of cases of children being separated from their parents that are NOT documented, and that the government is so overwhelmed that it may be a matter of YEARS before these families are reunited, if ever! Maybe that’s what caused her to quit, a bad case of a conscience. But I doubt it. More than likely she was forced out by Miller, who wants a much more aggressive posture from DHS on the entire immigration issue so that his boss can use it to fire up his base at his political rallies or by going to the border for photo ops and unintelligible diatribes by our so called “Commander in Chief”. In this capacity he has abused his authority by sending U.S. military personnel to the border at the expense of our security in other areas here or around the world where it is REALLY needed. And despite all of this, the number of illegal immigrants or those who are actually seeking legitimate political asylum seeking to cross the border has skyrocketed to levels NEVER before seen, especially during the Obama years, which Trump likes to deride as the “open border policy”. It appears the only REAL open border policy is Trump and Miller’s handling of the entire issue, from border security to the wall to the attempted ban on ALL Muslims entering the country. All these attempts at stemming the flow of immigration, both legal and illegal, have done nothing more than open the spigot all the way to a literal flood of refugees, a flood that the administration is not nor ever has been equipped to handle. So it’s hardly a surprise that Nielson went “OVER THE WALL”. The only surprise was that she lasted as long as she did working for a man who seems hell bent on “MAKING AMERICA WHITE AGAIN” with the help of his “MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN-STEPHEN (THE KILLER) MILLER)”. Soon the inscription on Lady Liberty will read “give me your white male Anglo Saxon with money and guns who wants to crush other creeds and races who do not agree with them and turn the light off when you leave the rest of you motherfuc*ers!!!” This is NOT the America I want to call my home. How about you?!? THE NRA AND THE REPUBLIKANS STRIKE AGAIN!!!!
I have written numerous posts decrying the absolute and total influence the NRA has acquired over the REPUBLIKAN PARTY in both Houses of Congress, mostly regarding the Senate. My latest was entitled “MEMO FROM MITCH” which was an e mail I had received from him regarding his position on a couple of Bills the House of Representatives had passed which would tighten the regulations in the process of background checks for the purchase of firearms. Now comes the latest absolute indication of just how far the NRA and their advocates will go in order to protect their ability to sell guns or collect campaign contributions from the sale of guns. Republikans in the House of Representatives just last week voted AGAINST a bill which was entitled the Violence Against Women Act. When the House of Representatives voted this week to reauthorize a 25-year old bill that helps fund programs for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse known as the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), it turned into a debate over gun rights and the political influence of the National Rifle Association. One-hundred fifty-seven Republicans opposed the bill on Thursday, many objecting to a provision that restricts those convicted of domestic abuse, assault or stalking from buying or owning a firearm, saying it infringes on Second Amendment rights. Current law already prohibits spouses or former spouses convicted of abuse from purchasing a firearms, but a new amendment to the bill would close the so-called "boyfriend loophole," adding unmarried partners to the language. The NRA mounted a campaign against the act, urging lawmakers to vote against it. "The gun control lobby and anti-gun politicians are intentionally politicizing the Violence Against Women Act as a smoke screen to push their gun control agenda," NRA spokesperson Jennifer Baker told the Associated Press. Baker insisted the group opposes domestic violence and all violent crime, and told the AP the group annually spends millions to teach Americans how to safely use firearms in self-defense.( I call BULLSH*T on her and the NRA!!!!) “I am deeply disappointed that some Republican Members of this House are using the NRA as cover to vote against this reauthorization, which has been overwhelmingly in a bipartisan fashion reauthorized over and over again," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D.-Md. "These are commonsense protections that prevent domestic abusers from obtaining the guns that have sadly been used so frequently to harm or kill their partners.” Despite the NRA's efforts, the bill passed easily in the Democratic-held House. (Above information was taken from ABC News). My question is simple…how in the name of anything sacred could ANYBODY oppose the passage of this bill?!? Almost as certain is that the bill will never even make it to a vote on the floor of the Senate, which is controlled by “RICH” Mitch McConnell and his REPUBLIKAN NRA cronies, who essentially will oppose ANY piece of legislation which might in any possible way impede the cash flow that the unrestricted sale of guns of all types, including assault rifles and extended ammunition clips which have been used in a multitude of mass murders in this country. Such was the case with the House Bills referenced above which McConnell, like all of his other NRA stooges, hid behind the security blanket of the Second Amendment, which is tactic number one whenever ANY piece of legislation comes up that might break up the incestuous and mutually financially beneficial arrangement between the REPUBLIKANS and the NRA. I have written another piece I entitled “NRA RATINGS AND THE REPUBLIKAN MAJORITY IN THE SENATE”, one called “WHERE DOES THE MADNESS END?!? and one titled “THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”, all in the last couple of months and all on the subject of the lack of legislation on meaningful gun reform in this gun crazed society of ours. It appears that as is the case in Pittsburgh and other cities, local politicians and governing bodies are taking matters into their own hands by passing legislation restricting the sale, for example, of assault type weapons like the ones used in the synagogue massacre. Of course the NRA through its numerous legal entities are vehemently opposed to this approach as well and have already threatened to take any such legislation to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court or beyond if necessary. Do you think for one second they give one damn about those who have been gunned down by one of these weapons, including innocent women and children?!? If you do you are SADLY mistaken. This is the only way apparently we can combat this horrific scourge of gun violence in our society as long as REPUBLIKANS control either House in Congress. The only way this will change is by voting these lifetime politicians and recipients of NRA campaign financing OUT OF OFFICE!!! Otherwise, the status quo will remain the same, and you can count on more innocent victims being gunned down in our streets. That’s the cold hard fact. Do your part, find out the position your local candidates have regarding gun laws and regulations, and hold them accountable for their positions. Any friend of the NRA is NO FRIEND of ours. THE BLACK PEARL GETS POLISHED OFF!!!
They say in sports, like in life, what goes around comes around. So it was Saturday night for Bruce (THE BLACK) Pearl and his Auburn Tigers as they fell to Virginia in a thrilling but devastating defeat on what sports writers are incorrectly calling a controversial foul call with less than a second to play. There was nothing controversial about the call-it was clearly a foul and three shots were correctly awarded to the Cavaliers, which Kyle Guy calmly sank, first two and then the final dagger following an Auburn time out in an attempt to freeze him. Swish, swish and swish. The Auburn team and fans were clearly stunned and indignant at the call, but they should be more irate with the horrible coaching decisions Bruce Pearl made in the final seconds. Instead of calling for fouling Virginia twice after they rebounded the missed free throw by Auburn’s Jared Harper (he had been perfect at the line until this fateful miss) in the final 8 seconds or so, he should have used his final timeout to set up a defense that would have prevented the shot that ended up sending the Tigers back to Alabama empty handed. Instead, he called for the two fouls which resulted in the stoppage of the clock and set up the final wild sequence. There are those who will argue that there was a missed double dribble call prior to the final foul, and indeed it appeared as if it was. However, I can tell you that NO referee is going to make that call at this point in the game, especially when they’re more concerned with calling the foul(s) Auburn gave in the last seconds to disrupt Virginia’s offense, a strategy that clearly backfired. I refereed basketball at a much lower level than this, and it is a very difficult job. A foul could literally be called on every play, so the real challenge the officials face is in letting the game flow without unnecessary whistles and letting the players play. I can see how the official trailing the play could miss the double dribble after the ball bounced off the Virginia player’s ankle and then he retrieved it and began his dribble again. I contend NO official is going to make that call at this juncture in the game. But the foul on the final shot from the corner is a whole different beast-even Charles Barkley admitted it was a legitimate call. The Auburn player made contact with Guy and thereby altered his shot. Period. Verticality and all that technical jargon. And let’s not forget the unbelievable pressure Guy must have felt on the line with EVERYTHING at stake. He made his free throws; Jared Harper missed the one that would have iced the game. But back to Bruce (THE BLACK) Pearl. He has had a history of questionable behavior follow him at every stop, from his days at the University of Southern Indiana to Wisconsin Green-Bay to Tennessee to Auburn. He was fired at Tennessee for rules violations involving recruits. His assistant coach at Auburn was just sentenced to prison in the FBI “pay for play” investigation. But Pearl just was rewarded by Auburn with a contract extension, and claims his innocence in the matter. Rick Pitino at Louisville was summarily fired by the university when his involvement in the scandal was revealed, but here is Bruce Pearl in all of his glory going crazy on the sidelines. The same can be said of Bill Self at Kansas and Sean Miller at Arizona-both schools are under investigation in the same probe. The NCAA and these universities are a complete hypocritical fraud in allowing these individuals to remain on the sidelines, but hey, the show must go on and the money flowing. After all, it is a business despite whatever BULLSH*T line the NCAA wants to try to sell us about “student athletes” and all the wonderful things they do for them. They make a ton of money off of them, just like the unsavory shoe companies who have their dirty fingerprints all over the game at all levels from AAU ball to the pros. I’m just glad Bruce Pearl lost in a manner that is REALLY difficult to swallow. I hope he chokes on it, just like he choked in his coaching in the final seconds of this game. Had he not chosen to commit those two fouls, I believe the outcome of the game would have been very different. But again, what goes around comes around. I hope he thinks about it every night for a long time to come. And BTW, Bruce…GOOD RIDDANCE!! “COACH FOR LIFE” CAL!!!
So much for the wishful thinking in my post the other day entitled “MARCH SADNESS” or the one a couple of weeks ago entitled COACH CAL (WORTHINGTON) GOES ONE FOR TEN- LOSING IN THE BIG DANCE ONCE AGAIN!” whereby I speculated that perhaps it was time for the University of Kentucky to part ways with Coach John Calipari after ten seasons. It appears that Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart was so freaked out by the “non offer” offer that UCLA was rumored to have floated regarding Calipari’s services in La La Land (who accepts a job making LESS money these days?!?) that he offered Cal Worthington and his dog Spot a LIFETIME contract with Kentucky. I don’t know the particulars of the financial commitment that goes along with being named “Coach FOR LIFE”, but he was already making in excess of NINE MILLION DOLLARS this season, which in and of itself is ridiculous. For a state that cannot even pay to fund its own retirement plan it seems completely out of whack with reality, but such is the state of sporting dollars in America today and our priorities. I was watching Spectrum Channel One, the all Kentucky all the time station, in particular the Matt Jones show (he wasn’t on) where the commentators were decrying Cal’s critics as idiots, instead focusing on his glorious record in the games that REALLY don’t count. I completely disagree with Barnhart’s decision to reward Coach Cal’s mediocre record with a guarantee of employment for as long as he chooses to coach here, REGARDLESS of what he accomplishes (or doesn’t!!). The fans of Big Blue Nation have been so dazzled by Calipari’s recruiting of top players and his infatuation with getting them drafted into the NBA they have lost sight of what matters and are willing to settle for mediocrity, which is all that can be said about Wildcat basketball during his ten year tenure if your gauge is championships. One for ten. Period. None of the SEC titles, Sweet Sixteens, Elite Eights or Final Fours amount to a hill of horse manure in the Bluegrass-banners are what count!!!! But somehow Big Blue Nation seems to have forgotten about that, and is more interested in the side show, kind of like Cal Worthington riding an elephant named “Spot” around his car lot to sell used cars in southern California back in the 70’s-nobody cared about the cars just the show!!! I know there are many that will say I’m out in left field on this and he is the greatest thing to ever happen to UK, and I won’t stop rooting for the Blue, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it, just live with it!!!! BTW, John Wooden never got a contract for life from UCLA, and his record will NEVER be duplicated-TEN OUT OF TWELVE national Championships, including SEVEN in a row!!! And EIGHTY EIGHT STRAIGHT victories. John Calipari will never even get close, but he is guaranteed a job at one of the most storied collegiate basketball programs in America for as long as he wants to coach. With a batting average in the game that REALLY counts of .100 as opposed to Wooden’s average of over .800 winning percentile. What’s wrong with this picture?!? My how times have changed in the last fifty years or so. Nevertheless, GO BIG BLUE!! MEMO FROM MITCH
The following e mail was received from Senator Mitch McConnell’s office in response to an e mail I sent about the Second Amendment and House of Representative passed Bills calling for stricter background checks and is dated March 25, 2019. “As a lifetime member of the NRA, I remain a strong advocate for our constitutionally protected Second Amendment rights. The solution to gun violence does not lie in the persecution and harassment of law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen, but rather in the effective prosecution of criminals. For this reason, I have supported ways to strengthen the enforcement of existing laws. Most recently, I cosponsored and President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 (H.R. 1625), which included the Fix NICS Act of 2017. This law seeks to ensure that the records of prohibited individuals are entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to make sure the system is more accurate and fair, while also protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners. This legislation also provides a remedy to people whose names were wrongly included in the database by expediting their ability to appeal their erroneous inclusion in the system. In your memo you mentioned The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 (H.R. 8) and The Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019 (H.R. 1112). These bills would not prevent violence in our communities. Instead these two overly- broad pieces of legislation would place undo burdens on law abiding citizens seeking to exercise their Second Amendment right. Since coming to the United States Senate in 1985, I have fought to protect the right of law abiding citizens to keep and bear arms, and I will continue to do so in the 116th Congress.” Just in case anybody is wondering why no effective new gun regulations EVER get through our Congress, just read the above. McConnell is and consistently has been a recipient of large contributions from the NRA, and, like forty eight of fifty two REPUBLIKAN Senators has a “AA” rating from them. This rating is purely predicated on how often a Congressman votes on gun legislation that is favorable to the NRA, in other words, helps sell more guns, including weapons of mass destruction like the AR-15. And these politicians almost ALWAYS hide behind the Second Amendment, just like McConnell has stated above. In the meanwhile, the slaughter on our streets continues. As I’ve stated previously, every one of them has blood on their hands. The latest horrific attack took place in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago, and already the government there has moved to restrict the sale of assault type weapons as a result. The government has introduced legislation that would ban most semi-automatic firearms, including the types of weapons used in shootings last month at two Christchurch mosques that killed 50 people. The bill's introduction on Monday marks the next step in passing gun control reform announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern following the March 15 attacks. Days after the shooting, Ardern vowed that "every semi-automatic weapon used in the terrorist attack last Friday" would be banned. New Zealand immediately imposed some gun control measures on March 21. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the bill under consideration now, which is a broader ban, would go into effect on April 12 if it passes. That legislation reportedly has support across party lines. "This will mean that within four weeks of the Christchurch terrorist attack, New Zealand will have passed legislation banning all military-style semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles," deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told reporters on Monday. (This information was taken from NPR). Can ANYBODY imagine something similar to this happening here?!? Even after the most horrendous of mass killings, from Newtown to Las Vegas, all we get from the REPUBLIKAN lackeys of the NRA is “heartfelt condolences” to the victims and their families and “it’s too soon to talk about more gun regulations”. When is enough enough?!? Even a country like New Zealand, who has NEVER suffered through the senseless gun violence we have endured in the last decade has enough sense to pass this type of legislation in the wake of a slaughter beyond description by an individual who was partially motivated by Donald Trump’s words regarding white nationalism. Instead, we keep sending politicians like Mitch McConnell back to Washington and Congress to perpetuate the myth of the Second Amendment, that it is every American’s right to obtain any type of firearm imaginable in any quantity they desire, whether it is an AR-15 or a 9 MM semi automatic pistol. I pray this vicious cycle will someday be broken by the next generation, who have themselves been victimized in ways none of us could have EVER imagined growing up. Instead of a fistfight in back of school when class lets out, it’s open up with an assault rifle and plant IED’s in the school to kill and injure as many people as possible. And for that we can thank the REPUBLIKANS and the NRA. Someday they will have to get the blood stains removed. MARCH SADNESS
One of the things that makes the NCAA basketball tournament so exciting is the win or go home aspect. If you win, you advance to play another day. If you lose, your season is over. Just like that. So it was for both the University of Kentucky Wildcats men’s team and the University of Louisville Lady Cards women’s team yesterday. It’s a bitter pill to swallow indeed, especially when the fan base has such high expectations of making it to the Final Four or winning it all every season. Let’s look at UK first. Before the tournament started, I wrote a post entitled “COACH CAL (WORTHINGTON) GOES ONE FOR TEN- LOSING IN THE BIG DANCE ONCE AGAIN!” wherein I predicted that the Cats would win two before bowing out. I was wrong-they won three games before losing in overtime to Auburn, a team they had defeated twice during the regular season and who was playing without arguably their best player. After the game, Coach John Calipari said this: “Congratulations to Auburn. Did what they had to do to win the game. They played aggressive and tough, they bumped, and it was a grinding kind of game. Two of their guys had 50 points. Think about that. They deserved to win the game. We got outplayed, got outcoached, and still had a chance to win the game. I thought we were going to win the game the whole way until the one or two plays in overtime. Never entered my mind we weren't going to win the game.” Had the Cats won the game, they would have been playing in their fifth final four in the ten seasons John Calipari has been the coach. Many will say that in itself is an incredible achievement. I say otherwise. With the level of talent Calipari has had at Kentucky the past ten years, the number of players which he will so proudly tell you are competing at the next level in the NBA, and arguably the best recruiting classes in the country over that period, making it to the Final Four isn’t good enough. Unless, of course, Big Blue Nation has come to accept mediocrity as the norm. I say one championship in ten years is serious UNDERACHIEVEMENT. A major league baseball player would be sent down to Class “A” ball if he were batting .100. Villanova, for God’s sake, has won TWO national championships in the last five years. And compare the talent level. The obvious difference is in the coaching, and John Calipari keeps coming up short. In his own post game statement, he admits to being “outcoached”. By the BLACK Pearl?!? A man who shouldn’t even be allowed on the sidelines with the scandals that have plagued him throughout his coaching career, from the University of Southern Indiana to Auburn. One of his assistant coaches was just sentenced to a prison term as part of the ongoing FBI probe into NCAA basketball “pay for play” scandal. But now he’s going to the Final Four and we’re going home. John Calipari may well be the greatest recruiter of all time, may have a great SEC record and has consistently made it to the Elite Eight and have a large number of players in the NBA, but the fact is that true champions, like Tom Brady or Michael Jordan, are judged by the number of championships they won over the course of their careers. So far in ten seasons, John Calipari has ONE banner hanging from the rafters in Rupp. Rick Pitino has two, Jay Wright has two, Coach K has FIVE. And in 2012 when Kentucky did win it all, they had Anthony Davis, perhaps the greatest college player over the last ten years before Zion came along. I mentioned in my previous post perhaps it’s time for UK and Coach Cal to part ways, but as sure as I’m writing this it’s not going to happen. A.D. Mitch Barnhart wouldn’t dare, and Calipari has the greatest job in the world with a fan base that regards him as a diety. So, to all those Cat fans out there longing for another banner, I say good luck with all that! You’re going to have to be satisfied with more hype, more Conference championships and trips to the Elite Eight or Final Four and nothing more. I’m not and never will be. Kentucky basketball should have at least TEN banners by now. But we still have Cal (WORTHINGTON)! As for the Lady Cards, they put up an incredible battle against the U Conn Huskies, themselves the very epitome of championship excellence. UConn (35-2) advances to its 12th straight Final Four. They have won six national championships and had a 111-game winning streak during their remarkable Final Four run. They will be looking to try and reach the title game for the first time in three years after they have lost on last-second shots in the past two national semifinals. The Lady Cards posted thirty two wins this season, the most ever. They had a tremendous cast of players, including Asia Durr. They also had to play in Albany, NY, a mere two hour drive from their campus, which obviously benefited the Huskies. Considering Louisville was the number one seed, and U Conn the number two seed, you wonder how this happens? At any rate, congratulations to the Lady Cards on a great season. And say good bye to Coach Jeff Walz, because I believe he will accept the University of Tennessee job. He has accomplished much here and put the program on the national stage repeatedly, but Tennessee represents the pinnacle of women’s hoops prior to U Conn’s incredible streak over the last years under Gino Auriemma. The late great Pat Summit is an incredibly difficult act to follow, but Jeff Walz will be a great fit there. I wish him all the best, even though the sight of the orange checkerboard makes me want to puke! So there you have it, another season comes to a close. My son, himself an incredibly avid member of Big Blue Nation, refuses to watch anymore basketball until next season. He could care less about who wins the national championship if it isn’t Kentucky. At this point, with Texas Tech, Auburn, Virginia and Michigan State in the Final Four, I kind of feel the same way, especially now that Duke blew my bracket right out the window!!! My prediction nevertheless is that Michigan State, under another amazing coach, Tom Izzo, will win it all. But here in Wildcat country, nobody will really care. Next up, Big Blue Madness come October! With a new cast of characters but the same coach. And the same predictable result. |
About Mike ColeBorn in Hamilton, OH but a proud Kentuckian since age two. One brother and three sisters. Suburban, Catholic middle-class upbringing. Attended Jefferson Community College and Pasadena Community College. Proud father of four and grandfather to seven, and most of all, a concerned American citizen! Are you??? Categories |