KyKurmudgeon

Since old fogies like me try to keep a little leave in reserve until the last minute just in case ancient systems start to malfunction, I’ve now reached “use it or lose it” status in regard to some of my vacation time for ‘08. So, as of this (Tuesday) afternoon, I’m outta here until early next year.

Since I’m not doing a lot of traveling, earthshaking events might cause me to post from home. Otherwise, I’ll be back Jan. 5, just in time to greet the General Assembly’s return on Jan. 6 - and for me to report for jury duty at 9 a.m. that same day.

Happy Ho-Ho to all, and enjoy your New Year’s Eve/Day!

1. Gov. Steve Beshear’s signature campaign issue, putting a casino gambling amendment on the ballot in hopes of eventually recapturing the $300 million to $500 million in revenue flowing from Kentucky into other states’ treasuries, went nowhere in this year’s General Assembly session. Facing a $456.1 million revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year (and who knows how much in the next one), he’s proposing a 70-cent increase in the cigarette tax that, if approved, won’t come close to filling that void. So Monday, he created a Commission on Philanthropy to look at ways the state’s charitable foundations can get more bank for the buck in such areas as health early childhood education. The combination of these circumstances has put an image in my mind that I can’t shake. It’s the image of Beshear sitting at street corner with a tin cup in his hand begging for alms to pay for services the state should be providing.

2. Speaking of casino gambling, the fact that a task force Beshear created to study the future of horse racing in Kentucky failed to include any recommendation on expanded gambling in the report it issued Monday is completely mind-boggling to me. How can a panel that supposedly has just a tiny bit of interest in making sure this state’s racetracks stay competitive with their counterparts around the country ignore expanded gambling when purses at tracks in several other states are supplemented with proceeds from that source? How does this panel expect Kentucky tracks to remain competitive without help from expanded gambling? By sitting with its own tin cup on the street corner opposite Beshear?

I’m taking off for Turkey Week. Should be back Monday, Dec. 1 in a semi-normal routine. Hope I remember how to write columns after spending most of my time the last couple of weeks editing other folks’ stuff.

Happy Turkey Day to all!

For the next two weeks, I once again will be filling in for absent colleagues on the now downsized H-L editorial board. I hope to keep the KyKurmudgeon blog active, but will not be writing columns during this time.

I’m slowing down in my old age. If I ever had a mind like a steel trap, it grew rusty through the years. So, my “Aha!” moment about Gov. Sarah Palin’s wink during her debate with Sen. Joe Biden didn’t hit me for about 10 days. That’s when I realized a Del Shannon classic that peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard charts about a year before Palin was born could, with a few revised lyrics, fit the former mayor of little Wasilla, Alaska rather nicely.

But by the time I had revised the lyrics, two weeks had passed since the wink. So, I waited to see if Palin might give us another wink during her Saturday Night Live appearance. She didn’t, and my idea was headed to the mental shelf as no longer timely until the story broke about the $150,000 extreme makeover she and her family received from the Republican Party when she joined Sen. John McCain’s presidential ticket. That’s when I realized a revised version of Shannon’s hit has a timeless application to Palin. So, I tweaked the lyrics one more time. And here is the Sarah Palin version of Little Town Flirt - with backup vocalists’ lyrics in parenthesis. (To see Shannon perform the original and get an idea of the beat, just Google “listen to Little Town Flirt” and a YouTube video clip will be your first hit.)

Here she comes (Here she comes)
That little town flirt (Here she comes)
She’s trying to tell us McCain’s not a jerk
Yeah, I know she’s so hard to resist
Cause she’s checking off that neo-con list
But you can get hurt hur-hur-hurt
Yeah, you can get a-hur-hur-hur-hur-hurt
Voting for John (Voting for John)
And his little town flirt

Here she comes (Here she comes)
With a wink of her eye (Here she comes)
Sporting thousands in fashions she didn’t buy
But we know she’s gonna treat us wrong
If we listen to her siren song
Cause you can get hurt hur-hur-hurt
Yeah, you can get a-hur-hur-hur-hur-hurt
Voting for John (Voting for John)
And his little town flirt

She’s a hockey mom
A pit bull with lipstick
Hanging with the Joe Six-packs
Who love the way she takes down a moose
But with the codes Sarah’d cook our goose
That’s when you’d know your vote was an UH-OH

Here she comes (Here she comes)
Just look at that style (Here she comes)
She’s winking at you (Aaaah)
Giving you that smile
But we know she’s gonna treat us wrong
If we listen to her siren song
Cause you can get hurt hur-hur-hurt
Yeah, you can get a-hur-hur-hur-hur-hurt
Voting for John (Voting for John)
And his little town flirt

You betcha better run and hide now
You betcha better pass her by now
You betcha better run away now
YOU BETCHA!

OK, I know you all may think from the scarcity of recent posts that the old Kurmudgeon is a slacker who’s been laying down on the job. And you’re partly right. I did take some time off. But the time off was sandwiched between a period of filling in for absent colleagues at other H-L editorial board duties and a period of participating in the time-consuming process of interviewing candidates for endorsements. But my part in that process is over. This Sunday’s column is written. And I’m back to a more normal routine at least through Election Day. I even cancelled plans to take next week off just in case anyone associated with either presidential campaign finally figures out where to find Kentucky. So, let’s start with a couple of quickies:

1. Like most members of the media who have been following this story, I was surprised by Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate’s ruling in the case involving domain names of on-line gambling sites. And I remain unconvinced that the state ultimately will prevail in seizing those names and forcing the sites to block play in Kentucky and pay restitution for past illegal Internet gambling. But even if the state does win, the on-line gambling industry will find new ways to reach out and put the touch on Kentuckians. That’s why I still believe the best way to deal with this issue is pass legislation regulating on-line gambling and then tax it.

2. Earlier this month, the Connecticut Supreme Court handed down a 4-3 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, making it the third state (joining California and Massachusetts) where such unions are authorized. A subsequent poll conducted for The Hartford Courant found that 53 percent of the state’s residents agreed with the ruling, compared to 42 percent who disagreed. Those numbers suggest that a state referendum that could ultimately lead to a constitutional ban on such marriages could well be defeated. Regardless, the court ruling and the poll results show that the times are a-changin’ for our gay and lesbian friends and family members - slowly to be sure, but they are changin’.

I’ll be helping fill in for absent H-L editorial board colleagues next week. Will try to do some posting when I can. But probably no columns.

Over the last quarter century, Tom FitzGerald and the Kentucky Resources Council he heads have led the fight to protect Kentucky’s environment. FitzGerald’s expertise on environmental issues may be unmatched in the state. In the halls of the state Capitol, he is truly a lobbyist for all of the people - at least all of the people who want clean air, clean, healthy environment and protection of the state’s scenic beauty.

It’s good to see FitzGerald’s long years of service to Kentuckians rewarded with one of this year’s Heinz Awards. Few could be more deserving of the $250,000 prize.

Unfortunately, I'm also back to filling in for absent H-L editorial board colleagues for the rest of the week. But I will try to get in a bit of blogging and hope to get a column written for Sunday. 

But I will be blogging about the 128th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic Saturday evening. I’ll be on the road to Western Kentucky Friday.

If you’re going to be there, too, let’s chat about politics, food and scorching heat. Look for me on the picnic grounds Saturday and at Downtown After Dinner in Paducah Saturday night. You may find me in downtown Paducah Friday night as well.

After Fancy Farm weekend, I’m taking a couple of days off. Should be back at it by Wednesday.