Since Barack Obama became president in January, 2009 there have been some 806 American casualties in Afghanistan compared to the 569 who died during the Bush Administration in that conflict.
When the United States entered Afghanistan there were several goals chief among them was to remove the Taliban from power which has been done.
Another goal was to defeat and kill Al Qaeda operatives which has been done to a significant extent. There are Al Qaeda sympathizers in Afghanistan: there are probably some in Chicago as well.
Another goal was to locate, capture and/or kill Osama Bin Laden. We do not know if Bin Laden is alive or dead but we know that he is not actively causing mischief wherever he lies.
Afghanistan is a political and religious mess and is simply NOT a governable nation. It does not make sense for the United States to sacrifice American blood in such an effort that will not and cannot succeed. In any event it was never a stated goal of the United States to build a nation in Afghanistan and if such were the goal it is inconsistent with common sense and the bipartisan foreign policy America has successfully followed since World War II.
If there is work to be done in Afghanistan in the realm of the proper goals: that of removing and/or killing Taliban, Al Qaeda operatives and Bin Laden, the United States Air Force can well accomplish those goals while American ground troops are removed to the periphery and out of harms’ way.
Barack Obama promised change and decried John McCain as four more years of Bush. In fact, in Afghanistan, it is Obama that represents four more years of Bush while the body count in this unnecessary exercise continues to mount with no end in sight.
It is time to either move the ground troops in Afghanistan out of harms way or bring them home.
Where is the leadership from Mr. Obama?
Now that political junkies have sobered up from the past election cycle, it is time to review our pre-election forecasts and make some additional observations going forward.
First, it appears that the blog was correct in picking the outcomes of every race forecasted with the following winners in the state and local races forecasted: Rand Paul, Ben Chandler, Sannie Overly, RJ Palmer. In Bourbon County races Foley, Ransdell, and McCarty won as did Judge Dickson and Judge Kuster in the judicial races. An observation is noted however about the Chandler vs. Barr race which was perhaps closer than expected, although the blog did express a caveat in predicting a Chandler victory.
Ben Chandler for good or bad has become a much more astute politician over the years and you could certainly observe that on election night when Chandler proclaimed victory with humility saying that he was “very fortunate” to have won reelection. The party for Chandler is a short lived one indeed. Where Rep. Chandler goes from here is interesting. At the outset, the blog well knows that in politics a few weeks can be an eternity and it is impossible to predict events two years out.
However, if we could assume a Chandler vs. Barr rematch in two years the plot does thicken for Chandler. On the one hand the attacks made on Barr in this race didn’t work for some 49.5% of the electorate and will probably begin to tail off in effectiveness over time for some additional percentage of voters. More importantly, however, is where Chandler’s voting record goes over the next two years. The Chandler campaign did everything it could to run from Obama this year but in two years that will not work. Because Obama will almost assuredly be on the ballot with Chandler at the head of the ticket in two years, the Chandler seat begins to look very vulnerable. Indeed if this had been a presidential election year, with Obama losing by some 55-45 or worse at the head of the ticket, it is hard to see how Chandler survives.
Bet is here that Chandler is going to make a distinct move to the right over the next two years, voting with the Republicans a significant amount of the time. It may be the only way he saves his seat.
The next to final installment of election forecasts covers the judicial race in the 14th Judicial districts.
14th District Judge Vanessa Dickson is opposed by newcomer Stephanie Litteral. In Bourbon County, at least, this does not look like a race. Judge Dickson, who is of course from Bourbon County has been widely praised for her competence and temperament. Those feelings seem to be widespread through the other two counties in the district, Scott and Woodford County as well. Her opponent, Stephanie Litteral, is not well known and may be a good candidate but she has picked the wrong race to get her feet wet. Judge Dickson has by all accounts become an exemplary Judge and should win handily.
AN OPEN LETTER
TO MY FRIENDS AND ALL CITIZENS OF
PENDLETON AND HARRISON AND NICHOLAS COUNTIES
Twenty four years ago, I chose Carlisle to open my law office. For the past 24 years I have practiced law in Nicholas, Bourbon, Robertson, Pendleton and Harrison Counties. I have handled literally hundreds of cases (probably thousands) during that time in every court in Nicholas County. Few if any lawyers have tried as many cases as I have during that period.
In those 24 years I have not once asked for a vote for myself or on behalf of someone else.
BUT THIS YEAR IS DIFFERENT AND HERE’S WHY
First, I have known Judge Bill Kuster for many years and observed his practice in every court in this district including, for example, a stint as assistance Commonwealth Attorney in Nicholas County. There is no doubt that Judge Kuster has the experience and temperament to make a good Judge and he has proven that FACT while serving on the bench this year.
Secondly, however, I am deeply concerned about the alternative to Judge Kuster.
Many folks are aware of Mr. Newberry’s donations of money to local organizations and that is commendable that he has the financial ability to do those things. I’ll leave it others or just your common sense to make any judgment you to care to make of his motives.
Of course, when it comes to motivations of others, Mr. Newberry has anointed himself as the person qualified to question the motivations of others and to attack others as being a part of some undefined “good ole boy” network without identifying who or on what basis he makes these claims.
On the other hand, if someone raises sincere and legitimate questions about his total lack of experience or any other issue with his record, it draws this hue and cry and whining that he has been mistreated somehow. Poor Peter.
And so we endure more of the ‘same ol’ ‘same ol’ from Mr. Newberry such as a page advertisement in last week’s Cynthiana Democrat that may or may not run in this paper as well, wherein Mr. Newberry seeks once again to portray himself as an innocent victim of attacks and lies which he says are made by “forces” he refuses to name; all in order to engender false sympathy for him while he engages in his own attacks on everyone else in the so-called system.
There is a word for that kind of stuff: it is called rabble-rousing. It is an old worn out political trick…. Try to get the masses angry over something to achieve a political gain. Mr. Newberry has learned that technique well as you can see from his advertising, and rabble-rousing works very well. FOR A WHILE. Until people realize they are being used. And then it nearly always backfires.
This is the first time I have ever expressed an opinion in a local political race of this sort. And I do it for a reason. I am not a close friend of Judge Kuster, have no idea where he lives, never been to his house and have never had dinner with him and frankly I think he and I are on opposite sides of the political fence. No good ole boy network with me, Mr. Newberry!
The reason I am offended by Mr. Newberry’s campaign and why I believe we should all be offended by his tactics is that he is attacking a whole lot of good people that have given in some cases their entire lifetime trying to make things better in their community. His attacks are not really an attack on Judge Kuster because Judge Kuster has only been judge a short period of time.
It is an attack as he puts it on a “good old boys club” and who, pray tell, is it that Mr. Newberry sees as a part of this good ole boy’s club: Perhaps Nicholas County Attorney Dawn Letcher, Family Court Judge Barbara Paul. Or perhaps others who have been the mainstay of the court system for many years like John Swinford, Doug Wright, Jack Keith and others who have given their whole lives trying to serve their community.
I am sorry, my friends, but I believe Mr. Newberry’s tactics are distasteful and out of order and that he should be ashamed of himself. This is a guy who has NEVER practiced one day in the Nicholas County courts but yet has appointed himself to attack everyone else, from the safe confines of the Peanut Gallery.
Could the court system be better: YES. Are there things that need improvement; ABSOLUTELY. But for some self anointed fellow who has never spent one day in the Nicholas County courtroom to try to set himself up as the guardian of all that is good and the watchdog of everyone else is absolutely absurd.
Fact is it is a JOKE. Just like the full page sour grapes advertisement he ran after he got beat in the Family Court race a couple of years ago when he ran against Donnie Bromagen, Ray Bogucki and Barbara Paul and lodged all kinds of ridiculous complaints about his signs disappearing and all sorts of laughable absurdities. There was no evidence that any of those people were bothering his signs, but rumor was that people who had his signs in his yard became embarrassed to have them and started picking them up. I wouldn’t be surprised to see folks here picking them up and getting rid of them too.
Another JOKE. When in Carlisle, Mr. Newberry is a Nicholas County lawyer, but his ads in Falmouth say he is a Pendleton County lawyer. Again as best anyone can find out he has never had one day in the Nicholas County Courts.
It would be like me calling myself a Nicholas County farmer and trying to tell Nicholas County farmers how to run their farm because I have an office in Carlisle and raised three hot peppers on my patio. It would be a JOKE.
My friends, let’s don’t let the joke get put on us. Let’s keep Judge Kuster.
With all the attack ads and so forth this election it is possible to forget about the important local races on the ballot. Among those is the race for Paris Mayor and city commission. Incumbent Mayor Mike Thornton is challenged by former city commissioner Janet Patton in the Mayor’s race. There hasn’t been a lot of talk on the street about this race, which probably points to a victory for the incumbent Mayor. Thornton has detractors and Patton has a following but in the absence of some strong organized opposition to the Mayor he should be in good shape. To Thornton’s credit he inherited a difficult situation in local government and has made strides to put the city on a better financial footing.
The same reasoning probably helps the incumbents in the city commissioner races in which four incumbents are challenged by two newcomers. Incumbents Stan Galbraith and Mike Fryman are probably safe bets. Incumbents Wallis Brooks and Bart Horne should run well but Horne is in his first race since being appointed which could make him more vulnerable. Of the challengers, John Plummer has been working hard and has significant support. Former police chief Tim Gray also has supporters and his stint as police chief placed him in touch with a lot of people. How that translates into votes is debatable. Bottom line is not too much change on the city commission unless Plummer is able to pick off either Horne or Brooks.
In Bourbon County the high-profile race is the race for county judge-executive in which incumbent Democrat Donnie Foley is opposed by Republican Tony Horn. Horn is the elected jailer who was indicted by a Bourbon County Grand Jury and at trial was given 90 days to serve in jail.
In a normal climate the bet is that the incumbent judge would not have problem in the race. But Horn has a very vocal group of loyal supporters. The question is how large that group really is, rather than how vocal they are.
A few things are certain: Judge Foley is likely to run extremely well in North Middletown, Little Rock and some other areas in the county. Horn may run better in the more Republican areas such as the Hutchison precincts. On balance Horn may make the race closer than some people expected but this should be a victory for Foley by a safe, if not commanding margin.
Other county races which are contested include the race for county jailer which is now a transportation officer position with the formation of the regional jail. Former Sheriff John Ransdell, a Democrat, is opposed by Republican David Ratliff. The name recognition of Ransdell along with partisan advantage should make this a run away for Ransdell.
The only other county race which is contested is the race for magistrate (1st District) in which incumbent Donnie McCarty, Democrat is opposed by Republican Dr. Robert Biddle. This is the one race that has the makings of possible upset. McCarty has served in office for some time and in any other year or in any other precinct he might be able to hold on. But this is the one area of the county where there may be Republican coattails from the top of ticket. There will be a strong Republican vote in the Hutchison precinct for sure. Whether it is enough to sink McCarty is not certain and may depend on how much work the two candidates have been doing out in the precinct. This race is a tough one to predict. Initial thought has McCarty surviving but if there is a large Republican turnout, Biddle may pull it out.
