10 Responses to “Fire info, Beshear by 20pts, Anti-stripper advocate won’t push enforcement”

1. 1 Ben on October 25th, 2007 12:57 am

   looks like Republicans will lose the seat they just gained in Louisiana.  I think Fletcher got kind of a bad rap, though he made some questionable early moves.  He just dug a hole and was never able to get himself out of it.

2. 2 Jill Miller Zimon on October 25th, 2007 8:45 am

   Doesn't it all make you wonder, seriously, just how much it matters?  I mean, I know, at some level, party must matter – it does, I'm sure.  But then in cases like this – ugh.  It is the person too.

3. 3 Anon on October 25th, 2007 7:04 pm

   Re Louisiana, the incumbent Democratic candidate for Agriculture Commissioner has apparently withdrawn his candidacy, conceding the office to his Republican opponent. As noted elsewhere: “This leaves [Lt. Gov.] Mitch Landrieu (D) as the state’s sole remaining Democratic statewide officeholder, pending the results of the Attorney General runoff next month.”

   Perhaps there’s an analogy between the 2007 state-wide elections in Louisiana and the 2006 state-wide elections in Ohio? The party in power was seen as incompetent and/or corrupt and got its clock cleaned at the next election.

4. 4 Anon on October 25th, 2007 7:09 pm

   “Southern California Wildfires: Web and Blog resources” is available here.

5. 5 Jason Sonenshein on October 25th, 2007 8:47 pm

   Kentucky is interesting. It’s solidly Republican at the federal level, but Democrats are the natural party of government in Frankfort. Governor Fletcher is the first Republican governor since Louie Nunn in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

   At the beginning of the 1990’s, Democrats controlled the redistricting process and held most of the U.S. House seats. By the end of the decade, Republicans had all but one of the state’s congressional seats.

   Kentucky is quite tolerant of so-called “vice.” From 1911 to 1913 it was the only state that allowed wagering on horse races. Casino gaming was generally tolerated, though technically illegal, in Newport, Kentucky until the mid-1960’s when Campbell County elected some do-gooder sheriff. When I was growing up near Cincinnati, Ohioans would cross the river to go to strip clubs or to take advantage of Kentucky’s low taxes on alcohol and tobacco.

6. 6 Jill Miller Zimon on October 25th, 2007 11:46 pm

   Anon – re: Louisiana and Ohio – I was thinking that as I was reading your comment, but before I got to the end. But LA’s general assembly – isn’t it pretty blue? I don’t remember exactly but I always think of it as a blue state – I don’t actually have any real idea. I have been there a few times though.

7. 7 Jill Miller Zimon on October 25th, 2007 11:48 pm

   Jason – I love your comments and perspective. But – once – just once – come here and surprise me – tell me one thing, any one teeny tiny thing that would be inconsistent with your otherwise Libertarian views. Why do I say this?

   Only because I think that every single one of us has inside us some contradiction of some type – and I think those contradictions show us to be human.

   Let me see your human side!

   (No – that doesn’t mean I think Libertarians aren’t human.)

8. 8 Anon on October 26th, 2007 11:33 am

   But LA’s general assembly – isn’t it pretty blue? I don’t remember exactly but I always think of it as a blue state

   If both houses of the Louisiana state legislature stay Democratic, that would make the analogy even better (state-wide offices and legislative majority of opposite parties). At the moment it appears that the Louisiana Senate will stay majority Democratic, but control of the House remains to be decided.

9. 9 Jason Sonenshein on October 26th, 2007 10:33 pm

   “tell me one thing, any one teeny tiny thing that would be inconsistent with your otherwise Libertarian views.”

   OK, here are a few:

   1. I think a social safety net is a practical necessity. I also favor some labor laws such as the Wagner Act, FLSA, OSHA, etc., and some progresivity in the tax code. If the gap between rich and poor gets too large, that’s how people like Huey Long and Hugo Chavez get elected.

   2. I’m not convinced that public schools, state universities, and student aid aren’t necessary. Libertarian rhetoric about separating school and state sounds good, but I’d have to see it work somewhere else before I’d be willing to try it here.

   3. Government action to protect the environment has generally been beneficial. Our air and water are a lot cleaner than they were 35 years ago.

   4. I favor public ownership of natural monopolies, or at least those natural monopolies that are already publicly owned, such as roads and water lines. I suppose you could argue that this position is self-serving, as I work for the Cleveland Division of Water.

   5. Some restrictions on land use are necessary for environmental protection, to protect neighbors’ property values, and to prevent development from outpacing the ability of infrastructure to serve it.

   Finally, I hate to be picky about capitalization, but it affects the meanings of common nouns that double as party labels. While I tend toward libertarianism, I’m not a Libertarian. Likewise, I’m a republican but not a Republican. Oddly enough, I’m a Democrat, but not much of a democrat.

10. 10 Jill Miller Zimon on October 28th, 2007 9:36 am

    Got it. That’s a great delineation, Jason. Thank you! I’m going to have to read it again. I agree with all of your points. How bout that!?

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