Blue Bluegrass

Ben Chandler opponent, Ernie Fletcher protege and Rand Paul Rally Man Andy Barr (Center)

Although it hasn’t yet become a battle as public as Rand Paul and Trey Grayson’s has, there is tension building up in the GOP 6th District. Andy Barr is running in the Republican primary race for the 6th Congressional District seat currently held by Democrat Ben Chandler, and the tensions are like those in the upstate New York congressional special election in December, and like those in conflicts brewing across the nation between GOP mainstreamers and teabaggers.

The most obvious signal is a dissatisfaction from coal money, which never has yet lined up in any significant way at all behind Barr. Coupled with the late but loud entry by retired coal executive Mike Templeman, and there is a very clear line against Barr in the primary from coal money.

Barr’s donor list is still very little more than the “Friends and Family” plan, with massive $4,000 shots from many relatives and those who appear to be college friends. There is no widespread rush among the Republican faithful and/or usual suspects to line up and contribute to Barr. Several local and state Republican elected officials, as well as former UK athletes and radio personalities were all contacted by the NRCC in January and asked to consider running. In early January the NRCC reportedly contacted the Barr campaign and informed him that his race was not on their targeted list and they would not be participating financially in his campaign since he didn‘t come close to meeting the minimums set for a year-end total of $400,000.

Barr also made a curious selection choice for his campaign manager, selecting Brad Shattuck. Instead of going with a McConnell-pedigreed consultant/manager, he chose Shattuck. Shattuck made news headlines in 2006 during the Lexington mayoral race for lying about his identity to a call-in show while trying to plant a question for an opponent of his client, Bill Farmer. Although Farmer did not fire Shattuck for lying, it was a memorable gaffe from which Farmer never recovered. Since then, Shattuck has done mailings for noted fringe GOP candidates like Sarah Palin and U.S. Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, who is so fringe he makes Palin look mainstream.

Aside from the coal money, if Templeman can tap into the major money veins, he may be the nominee. Templeman sent out a glossy flier immediately after he filed claiming that it was he who shared the cliché conservative values of residents of the district. The bigger question is who will wind up being the tea bagger candidate and who will be the mainstream Republican candidate. If Templeman starts getting money and endorsements from the state and national Republican leaders, it will set up in Kentucky the same sort of tea party vs. mainstream battle that has been shaping up across the country. Once Templeman identifies his campaign personnel and files his initial financial report, how strong he is with the main stream of the party will be more clear.

Barr is an odd mix of old school Ernie Fletcher scandal taint from serving as Fletcher’s attorney during his term as governor, and Club for Growth ties like Andy Hightower and Warren Rogers. Club for Growth has been more aligned with the tea baggers. The Fletcher scandal would seem to be one that “leaves a mark”, although Barr did not personally show up named as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the merit hiring scandal. He did advise Fletcher throughout the scandal, and remains a public and ardent defender of the disgraceful lawbreaking that occurred under Fletcher.

Chandler of course made no friends in coal with his cap and trade vote, and upset liberals with his recent health care vote. But the theory put forth here over the past several months has been that the traditionally vulnerable mid-year elections, combined with the obviously harsh environment of 2010 for Democrats could be softened. When Republicans are eating their own through infighting, the chance to capitalize could evaporate, especially if the teabagger candidate wins their primary. In Barr’s case, there is a unease based partly on his Fletcher connections, partly on his distancing from traditional Republican resources, and partly because of uncertainty about how well he’s been vetted as a candidate, and whether Barr has any past undisclosed legal problems.

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Awkward.

Dr. Jack Ditty defended his campaign’s sleazy sneak attack and secret ambush recording of Senator Robin Webb in a predictable way: Deny, deny, deny. In fact, the Herald Leader reported that the potential future felon, Ashland neurologist Dr. Henry Goodman, confirmed Ditty’s account:

Goodman said Thursday he taped the meeting without Ditty’s knowledge “to make sure Sen. Webb’s comments about one of her bills were consistent with what she had been saying.”
Ditty said he had “nothing at all to do with the taping” and said Goodman should have informed Webb at the beginning of the meeting that he was taping her.
Goodman said he did not think about doing that — even though Ditty said he told Goodman not to tape the meeting.

Also, recall the secret recording attempts reported last week at the same time in the office of Democratic U.S. Senator Landrieu of Louisiana. Is there some sort of concerted game book that Republicans are pulling their plays from, or it it just coincidental? If coincidental, it is an extraordinary one, considering that two Republicans tried to secretly record two Democrat office-holders in the same week in separate states.

Whether coordinated nationally or not, there is an interesting criminal law issue raised in the Frankfort case. Obviously, neither Webb nor her attorney knew the recording was being done. Ditty and Goodman in the above statements are consistent that Ditty did not know the recording was being done, and that only Goodman, the recording party, knew the recording was taking place.

Having established that fact to a certainty appears to be very important. Read what Kentucky law says in KRS 526.010 and 020:

526.010 Definition.
The following definition applies in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
“Eavesdrop” means to overhear, record, amplify or transmit any part of a wire or oral communication of others without the consent of at least one (1) party thereto by means of any electronic, mechanical or other device.

020 states:

526.020 Eavesdropping.
(1) A person is guilty of eavesdropping when he intentionally uses any device to eavesdrop, whether or not he is present at the time.
(2) Eavesdropping is a Class D felony.

So, under these statutes, has Dr. Henry Goodman now publicly confessed to a Class D felony? Will there need to be a special prosecutor to keep up with all the criminal cases the Republicans appear on the verge of landing in?

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A letter from a Kentuckian who is not impressed with obstructionism and gamesmanship in Washington, reprinted in its entirety from Congress.Org:

Subject:
JOBS BILL

To:
Sen. Mitch McConnell

February 4, 2010

Senator Mitch McConnell,
The jobs bill will come to a vote on Monday, February 8. The news is that Republicans will filibuster the bill. I am a registered Republican and I have been voting Republican, but let me state unequivocally, if you, my Senator, join or encourage this action in the Senate, I not only will vote against you next election (and you didn’t do too well last time), but I will head a campaign against you to include registering people into the Democratic party (of which I will be a member then) and encouraging other Kentuckians to switch their registration from Republican to Democrat. I will also join a campaign to remove every last Republican I can from office. It’s time you get your head wrapped around the situation out here in real life. You may have a job, healthcare, shelter, and the money to buy food, however, lot of the people you represent are not as fortunate. My husband and I are both unemployed and, as we learned today, eight million Americans are unemployed. In the last few years my husband and I lost our business, our home, and lost our retirement trying to hang on while you Republicans led us into two wars and you ignored that the country was headed into an economic abyss as you turned a blind eye to your cronies’ corruption on Wall Street and in banking . My husband and I now have lost the jobs we managed to get after losing everything and were trying to get back on our feet.. With the loss of our jobs, if something doesn’t happen to assist us out here we, as well as a lot of other people, stand to lose the rented roofs over our heads, our medical insurance, and what little bit of dignity we have left. WE NEED THE JOBS BILL PASSED DON’T FILIBUSTER THE JOBS BILL; LET IT COME TO A VOTE ON THE FLOOR. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO SUPPORT THE JOBS BILL AND TO ENLIST YOUR FELLOW REPUBLICANS TO VOTE FOR IT ALSO!! I am trying to be as respectful as I can, but it is difficult when I see my elected leaders acting like a bunch of spoiled brats throwing tantrums to get their selfish way. Quit being partisan brats and DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR PEOPLE FOR ONCE

Georgetown , KY

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Reportedly, according to one person who is very tightly connected to Kentucky State Senate President David Williams, Senator Robin Webb may have called David Williams a dick. Senator Webb strongly denies that.

For the sake of argument, assume that David Williams did not manufacture the story that came Friday about Kentucky State Senator Robin Webb using that expletive in the senate offices.

Assume that it was just an extraordinary coincidence that the desperate tale dutifully reporting that Republican state senators had gravely and seriously gone behind closed doors to a star chamber debate on what sort of ethics charges to pursue against Webb came out the day after Webb’s opponent was involved in a sleazy attempt to secretly record Webb in her senate offices.

Assume that the report was not a desperate attempt by Williams to divert attention from the mortal wound Ditty appeared to have inflicted on his own campaign.

If one assumes all that, what do senate rules say about the truth as a defense to ethics charges?

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Grayson attorney and Kentucky State Senator Robin Webb has proven she is willing to meet with any of her constituents, even a constituent like Jack Ditty, who ran against her in last August’s special election. That is exactly what she did last week, when Jack Ditty and another unscrupulous doctor actually made a secret video and audio tape recording during their meeting with Webb in her Frankfort offices. While such sleazy behavior would offend most Kentuckians, keep an open mind. To the unsophisticated, yesterday’s news would lead to the conclusion that Dr. Jack Ditty is just as morally and ethically challenged as, well, as Ernie Fletcher.

But that conclusion would be unfair to jump to, when there is a perfectly reasonable explanation. Although Tom Loftus’ story makes it appear that two sleazy doctors need to be run out of town on a rail and expelled from the Kentucky Medical Association, keep an open mind:

State Sen. Robin Webb said she was glad to meet in her office last week with Dr. Jack Ditty, the man she defeated last year in a special election and who has filed to run against her again this year.
Ditty and fellow doctor Henry Goodman visited Jan. 27, a day when members of the Kentucky Medical Association descended on the Capitol to promote the group’s legislative agenda.
“Dr. Ditty is a constituent,” Webb said.
But she wasn’t as happy when a beeping noise focused her attention on the gear the two piled between them on her office couch — and she discovered she was being surreptitiously videotaped.
“I saw what looked like a lens pointed at me. I asked them, ‘Are you taping me?’ Dr. Goodman said, ‘Yes, is that a problem?’ ”
While Webb, a Grayson Democrat and an attorney, acknowledge the taping isn’t illegal, “it’s not professional,” she said, “and I think it impugns the integrity of the association to have their credentialed representatives do that.”
Ditty and Goodman, a trustee of the KMA, said Goodman did the taping and Ditty knew nothing about it.
But Senate Democratic Leader Ed Worley of Richmond said he doesn’t believe that.
“They were trying to catch her (Webb) saying something awkward or picking her nose or whatever to use it in a political ad,” Worley said. “It was raw, pure politics at its dirtiest level. And because he was caught, Dr. Ditty ought to have the guts to admit that.”
…
Dr. Preston Nunnelley, chairman of the KMA’s legislative committee, said association leaders and lobbyists were aghast when they learned of the incident. He said the association does not condone the action, had nothing to do with it and immediately apologized to Webb and Worley.
“Once informed of the recording I, as legislative chairman of the KMA, took steps to insure the recording was deleted,” Nunnelley said.
He said he “will report it to the KMA Board of Trustees at its next meeting to determine if additional action is necessary.”
…
During the meeting, Webb and Nickles said, they heard a beep coming from the couch where the two men were sitting.
After the first beep, Webb said, Goodman grabbed a juice box from a bag and took a drink. After the second, she said he grabbed a candy bar and took a bite.
After the third, Webb said she offered Goodman a basket of snacks she keeps in the office and asked if he needed something to drink. He took a bag of chocolate raisins out of the basket, said he was okay and declined a drink, Webb and Nickles said.
Webb and Nickles said they presumed the beeping was coming from some sort of monitor kept by Goodman for a possible health issue.
When the fourth beep sounded, Webb said she grew concerned.
“I looked at Mike and Mike looked at me like, should we get someone’s help?” Webb said.
But she said she looked again toward the spot where it seemed the sound was originating and saw what looked like a small lens that was sticking out from behind a still camera that Ditty had placed on the couch.
That’s when she asked if she was being videotaped.
Ditty said he does not remember any beeping noises during the meeting, and Goodman said twice in a phone interview that he didn’t either.
But when told that Webb and Nickles said that the beeping recurred to the point that he accepted the snacks Webb offered, Goodman said, “Oh, the beeping? That’s a personal medical issue. I have a monitoring device on my body, that’s what the beeping was from. I have a continuous glucose monitor that was attached me.”
…
He said the taping wasn’t secret because “I knew I was doing it.”
Goodman said that after the meeting he erased the recording in the presence of a KMA staff member

Granted, the report could make some jump to the conclusion that these two clowns are as sleazy as
anything that’s slithered into Frankfort in decades, including lying about the need for medical monitoring equipment by a doctor. But there is a completely innocent explanation:

In fact, Goodman was just using a pants-cam shot for secret shot of Webb for the weekly self-promotion show that Ditty has, Your Health with Dr. Ditty, on WTSF-61 television every Sunday at 1:00 p.m.! Oh, and by the way, don’t bother asking if it is inappropriate for Ditty to have a free half-hour commercial for himself on television at the same time he’s running for office. As another Republican state legislative candidate has shown earlier this week, anything goes., even if it stains their repuation forever.

Even more tantalizing is this point, from the Kentucky.com report by Jack Brammer, in the comment section:

clarion wrote on 02/04/2010 08:08:50 PM:

Goodman may have committed a crime. While it is legal to tape a conversation if you are a party to a it, it is illegal to tape a conversation of 2 others who are not aware they are being recorded. This article says Ditty did not know the conversation was being taped by Goodman. If that is true, any conversation between Webb and Ditty that was recorded by Goodman without their knowledge is a crime. This matter should be referred to the Franklin County Commonwealth’s attorney for investigation and possibly indictment of Dr. Goodman.

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TPM has a good follow-up to Republican Kentucky U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell’s heroic battle on the floor of the U.S. Senate to protect the rights of foreign corporations to purchase U.S. elections. Turns out McConnell is also tied by a half-million gift to one of his shadowy foundations to a foreign corporation involved in bribery:

Since 2005, McConnell has received $21,000—spread between his campaign and his leadership PAC —from a PAC run by BAE Systems Inc., according to federal campaign disclosure records examined by TPMmuckraker. BAE Systems Inc. is the American subsidiary of BAE Systems, the world’s second largest defense contractor, headquartered in Britain.
In addition, United Defense Industries, another defense contractor bought by BAE in 2005, reportedly pledged half a million dollars to the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville, a political science foundation that the senator created.
McConnell has been good to BAE, which owns a facility in Louisville, Kentucky. For fiscal year 2010, the senator requested earmarks for the company worth a combined $17 million.
BAE is hardly a squeaky clean corporate citizen, either. The Justice Department is conducting an ongoing investigation (pdf) into allegations that the company bribed members of the Saudi Royal family, including the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, in support of a mulit-billion dollar, decades-long deal to barter arms for oil.
To be sure, as election lawyer Kenneth Gross points out, the existing law does make it illegal for foreign corporations to “funnel foreign corporate funds through domestic entities or to have foreign officers, directors, or employees direct foreign or domestic funds with regards to federal, state, or local elections.”
But in practice, reform advocates argue, this prohibition doesn’t get to the root of the issue. Even if a U.S. subsidiary uses its own funds to contribute, and the decision to contribute is made only by Americans, the money nonetheless comes from a subsidiary of a foreign corporation, whose officers can hardly be expected not to act with that interest in mind.

Such ties, combined with McConnell’s blind advocacy for those same corporations’ right to buy elections, makes a compelling argument to outlaw the “foundations” McConnell uses to funnel money from those who give bribes.

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It is a hell of a matchup. There are some great story lines to this year’s Super Bowl. Ignore them all.

Share the links, and boycott the Super Bowl. Boycott CBS for the rest of the year.

CBS is fine with letting the Family Foundation run an anti-choice ad on abortion during the Super Bowl.

As noted in the petition and letter of protest which can be read in full here:

LETTER TO CBS:
This letter is in response to the reported CBS decision to air an anti-choice advertisement during Super Bowl XLIV, sponsored by the controversial organization Focus on the Family. As united organizations dedicated to reproductive rights, tolerance, and social justice, we urge you to immediately cancel this ad and refuse any other advertisement promoting Focus on the Family’s agenda.
CBS has a well-documented history of prohibiting advocacy ads it deems controversial, rejecting ads from organizations such as PETA, MoveOn.org, United Church of Christ, and even ones that carry only an “implicit” endorsement for a side in a public debate. Last year, NBC made the prudent decision to not air anti-choice messages during the Super Bowl. CBS executives have indicated in the past that they would not air Super Bowl ads where “substantial elements of the community (are) in opposition to one another.”

But CBS couldn’t possibly run an advertisement for ManCrunch, a gay dating service.

“We’re 100% serious,” ManCrunch spokesperson Elissa Buchter said. “We have the money to pay for it. If the ad showed a man and woman kissing it would have been accepted. You see ads for erectile dysfunction morning, noon and night. It’s discriminatory that they wont show this….They should call our bluff. If the ad doesn’t air on the Super Bowl, it will air on another network. It’s not like it plays like Adam Lambert [kissing another man on the AMAs].”

The “offending” video can be viewed below. No double standard here.

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Last week, a billboard was put up in Lexington, paid for by the University of Kentucky and prominently promoting a 15-foot tall image of Ryan Quarles, the Republican candidate for the State House of Representatives.

On Wednesday night, the billboard was gone. Questions are now being raised about whether the coordination of the photographs with Quarles’ web page and the use by Quarles of a UK produced interview on his campaign web page to promote his candidacy violate any campaign finance laws. Quarles is a third year law student at the University of Kentucky, a potential future attorney, and has also been the campaign chairman of the previous campaign of Damon Thayer. This post does not advance any opinion about whether the photo coordination and the interview use violate any campaign finance laws, although this and previous posts point out that both issues are inappropriate misuses of public funds.

What is known is that Quarles yesterday at first appeared responsible enough to have at least taken down the interview. His personal Facebook page and his campaign Facebook page were not visible. However, today the interview and his campaign page are back up on his Facebook site, including the interview which is copyrighted by and produced with funds of the University of Kentucky.

Again on his campaign’s Facebook site, Quarles has grabbed copyrighted interview material, and noted that it is copyrighted, and nonetheless used it to promote his political campaign. On September 16, 2009, Quarles was featured in a six-minute interview on the University of Kentucky’s public radio station, WUKY. His interviewer was none other than University of Kentucky President Lee Todd. During the interview, Lee Todd shows he is aware of Quarles political party connections, and points out to the audience that Ryan Quarles interned in Washington for Republican Senator Mitch McConnell.

In that interview, Quarles feels it is important to point out that his family has been in Kentucky since the 1790s. Oh, and he “grew up on a family farm, earning my pay through sweat and calloused hands.” The entire interview is archived on WUKY’s web site, and can be heard by clicking here:

The screen shot below shows that Quarles has used the copyrighted WUKY interviews on his personal political campaign Facebook website. Click on the image to view it in a separate window, which can then be clicked on again to enlarge for full viewing.

So, in addition to having photographs coordinated with a huge billboard paid for with public dollars, Ryan Quarles has also used a copyrighted audio interview with President Lee Todd on his campaign web site. Did Quarles use this material with or without the permission of the University of Kentucky?

As noted Tuesday, if Quarles has the permission of the University of Kentucky, such a use is wrong in two very significant ways. First, such a use is inappropriate because it lets Quarles promote himself using material prepared for with public funds. Second, such a use is wrong because it strongly suggests that that University of Kentucky President Lee Todd and the University of Kentucky are endorsing Ryan Quarles as a political candidate.

The post yesterday commended Quarles for at least stopping the wrongful use of the interview, while noting that he had still not accepted responsibility or admitted his mistake. Unfortunately, even that limited commendation must now be revoked, since Quarles’ campaign site is again public, and again prominently features materials produced with public funds that are being misused to promote his political campaign and suggest a U.K endorsement of his candidacy.

U.K. President Lee Todd was willing to take strong steps to correct the billboard. It is unfortunate that Mr. Quarles does not yet even recognize the need to stop misusing public resources, especially since he is not only a potential future attorney, but has previously served as a campaign manager for Damon Thayer, which means he should be familiar with not only what is appropriate but also what is legal.

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