Yarmuth v. Northup II

It's official.
John Yarmuth v. Anne Northup II -- the Thrill in the Ville.

This morning Republican congressional candidate Chris Thieneman dropped out of a potential primary face-off with Anne Northup, paving the way for a rematch of the close 2006 congressional race. He also endorsed her opponent, Rep. John Yarmuth.

Thieneman had recently snitched on the GOP's attempt to bully him out the race, including a name drop of the Godfather of KY, Sen. Mitch McConnell. This caused an uproar in the KY GOP.

Hat tip to Stephen George over at LEO:

"None of the people who have allegedly pressured Thieneman — [L'ville GOP chair Jack] Richardson, McConnell aide Larry Cox, State Sen. Dan Seum (on behalf of Northup) — have said he is lying. Instead, some have said he's misinterpreted what the Republican inner circle has told him, which appears to be this: Get out of Anne's way."

Good point. If he's lying, just say so.

Thieneman spoke with Rick Redding at the 'Ville Voice:

"Thieneman told me that 'someone in Mitch McConnell’s inner circle' told him that the Senator had made it clear who his choice was in the race. He summarized what McConnell expressed to his aide this way:

'There is no way that Chris Thieneman is going to win this primary. Anne Northup is my pawn from now on.'..."

Kilpatrick to Detroit: "I'm sorry"

Oh Kwame:



The latest controversy for Detroit's hip-hop mayor stems from a police whistle-blower trial last summer. Two ex-cops sued the mayor saying he retaliated against them for pursuing an investigation of the mayor's inner circle that might have exposed his love affair. He testified that no affair took place. Soon the Detroit Free Press obtained nearly 14,000 text messages from his mistress and former Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty.

Here's the funny part, Kilpatrick and Beatty were sending these explicit messages over Beatty's city-issued pager! C'mon Kwame, that's player code 101.

"Speaking at length about the text-message scandal for the first time publicly Wednesday night, as he held hands with his wife Carlita, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick apologized repeatedly to residents, supporters, opponents, his wife and his sons for what he called 'the embarrassment and disappointment' of the past few days.

'I want to start tonight by saying to the citizens of this great city: I'm sorry," Kilpatrick said in a live television address from his church'..." For full story click here

(L'ville) Urban Decay

This from LEO's General Sense of Outrage blog, which posted a website that has a collection of photography documenting public housing and urban decay across North America. Although I never lived in the PJs, the pages on Louisville bring back memories of the ones that have since (and thankfully) been razed.

On Haiti's menu --- dirt for dinner

At .05¢ each

The Republic of Haiti has a history punctuated by brief moments of triumph and long periods of tragedy. The latest peril is at a fundamental level.

According to the Associated Press the poverty in Haiti has become so extreme that today the people are eating Mud cookies, made from a recipe of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening. Rising food costs and shortages due to the devastation of hurricanes are partly to blame. Yet one cannot overlook the abject poverty, political corruption and neo-colonial rule as a cause of their suffering.

Haiti remains the least-developed country in the western hemisphere, ranking 146th of 177 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index. The article notes that 76% of Haitian live on less than $2.25 a day, and 55%t live on less than $1.13 a day ("One dollar per every human being!" - Mos Def).

Another tragic example from a failed murdered state.

Kwame Kilpatrick, the anti-Obama

"I did not send a text message to that woman."

Is he black enough for ya?

Detroit's Kwame Kilpatrick has been described as America's hip-hop mayor. Well he's certainly acting like it. From strippers at the mayor's mansion to "leasing" a Lincoln Navigator, he proves you can take the mayor out the hood but you can't...ah, y'know the rest.

Well now Mayor Kilpatrick has broken new ground with the first booty call text message scandal. According to text messages obtained by the Detroit Free Press that were published on Jan. 23, Kilpatrick and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty lied about their affair under oath (a la Bill Clinton) and their involvement in the firing of Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown.

Here's an example of just one of the messages:

Beatty: "And, did you miss me, sexually?"

Kilpatrick: "Hell yeah! You couldn't tell. I want some more. "

There was also evidence that Kilpatrick and Beatty used city funds to arrange romantic getaways. Beatty resigned as chief of staff on Jan. 28 28, 2008 amid allegations that she and the mayor lied under oath about an affair.

Local Notes

A few interesting items in the Derby City.

• The "Why Buy Local" event organized by the Louisville Independent Business Alliance, b.k.a "Keep Louisville Weird", provided needed advice for local businesses competing against big box retailers. According to the C-J, John Timmons, owner of Ear X-tacy Records, admits that he cannot compete on price so he tries to provide better service, expertise and selection. LEO's blog also noted that the panel's keynote speaker, author Stacy Mitchell said that due "tremendous consolidation", Wal-Mart now captures one of every $10 spent on retail goods on the country. Unbelievable.
  
  
• Hat tip to 'Ville Voice. On redneck radio this morning rebel Republican Chris Thieneman, who spearheaded the defeat of the library tax and announced he's running for Kentucky's 3rd U.S. congressional seat, was snitchin' on the GOP. According to 'Ville Voice, Thieneman said various party officials, including Mitch McConnell aide Larry Cox, told him to sit this year out so serial loser Ann Northup can get her rematch against Rep. John Yarmuth. At the moment the conversation is getting ugly.
  

Obama defeats 'Billary' 2-to-1 in S. Carolina

"Y'know you done fucked up, right?"

A few quick thoughts after witnessing Obama's 55% victory.

1. Billary's Black Backlash: Billary's attempt to turn Barack into the "black candidate" with snide remarks and innuendo and direct lines of attack backfired. Now an entire generation (hip-hop!) of black voters that were never loyal to Democrats in the first place, are sickened with the Clinton & Clinton brand-name (see: The Clintons, Black Folk & America). Billary looks bitter, salty, robotic and paternalistic --- with the Negro Spiritual leadership of old still eating crumbs at the Clinton table (Andrew Young, John Lewis, Charlie Rangel, Sheila Jackson-Lee, etc.) few new black voters will support Billary.
   
   
2. Obama is the Youth Candidate: Barack is an inspiration to black folk, he trounced Billary with 81% of the black vote, however, he also won 52% among white voters age 18-30. He's the youth candidate. He's the candidate bringing an entire generation and formerly cynical citizens into the democratic process. An enormous 75% more voters turned out to vote in this year's SC Dem. primary than in 2004. Basically, Obama won more raw votes than all the votes for all the candidates in the 2004 primary.
   
   
3. On to Florida...and America Samoa?: After losing Billary basically said screw the people of S. Carolina, "...on to Florida." Thing is Florida is not in the Super Tuesday vote for the Democrats. Where in the blue hell is Democratic National Committee chair, Howard Dean? Can anyone stop Billary from making up the rules as they go along? On a funny side note, a press release mentioned the importance of the American Samoa vote, not a state but a territory of the U.S. --- Billary looks desperate.

Son of a Mitch -- McConnell to Mom: You're Fired!

Waiting outside her workplace at Maiden Alley Cinema with her 12-year-old daughter, Paducah, KY residentHeather Ryan wanted to ask Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) about the Iraq war. Sen. McConnell was at the theatre last week filming a campaign commercial. Thinking wisely she also brought her videocamer to tape his answer.

Not surprisingly Mitch gave her the cold shoulder. When American politicians ascend in rank their power shields them from a dosage of citizenry. What put this story on blogs across the country, from KY homegrown blog, DitchMitchKY to the nationally known DailyKos was that only a few days later Ryan was fired as director of the Maiden Alley Cinema.

Hat tip to DitchMitchKY for not just blogging from afar but for going down to Paducah and talking with Ms. Ryan personally (watch it here).

And watch the local coverage below.



I'm honestly surprised. My days as a McConnell Scholar at U of L taught me that at the very least Mitch was a decent human being. Even when he attacked 12-year-old Graeme Frost during the State Children’s Health Insurance Program debate last fall, I thought, hey that's a casualty of political warfare, another unfornate victim of the Godfather of KY's ruthless right-wing Machiavellianism.

But the pettiness of this...breathtaking.

Why Buy Local?

Hat tip to veteran journalist and Ville Voice blogger Rick Redding.

He posted an entry about an event this coming Sunday hosted by the Louisville Independent Business Alliance,the folks that brought us the Keep Louisville Weird campaign. The event, "Why Buy Local", features author Stacy Mitchell who wrote the book,“Big Box Swindle”, which slams the economic ills of big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart, Lowe's and Best Buy.

Read more here.