What do the Red States have in common? Ignorance

Read Time:3 Minute, 21 Second

I am unfortunate enough to live in a Red State, and life is too short for me to go into how exactly that happened.  Suffice to say I have been exposed for the last several years to an ignorance that heretofore I had never seen, however the latest demonstration of Red-Neck stupidity took place recently in the most Republican stronghold-
Kentucky.  Read this story of government run amok from nky.com:

After 3½ hours of debate Wednesday, Campbell County Fiscal Court voted 3-1 to snuff out the proposed countywide smoking ban that would have prohibited smoking inside bars, restaurants and other businesses that welcome the public.

That result had been expected for weeks, even before the former Fiscal Court voted during its final meeting in mid-December to approve the ban. Officials allowed everyone who wished to speak Wednesday to express their opinion.

Opponents of the ban agued that government should respect individual liberties and business freedoms. Ban opponents made up a strong majority of the approximately 140 people who sat and stood to participate in the proceedings – plus at least a dozen more who watched on television from the lobby of the county’s Newport administrative building.

Two officials suggested compromises:

• Judge-executive Steve Pendery, who cast the lone vote to keep the ban, suggested allowing smoking only in establishments that serve only people 21 or older. His three colleagues did not agree.

• Commissioner Ken Rechtin, who voted against the ban in December and again Wednesday, said he would like to see the judges-executive of Campbell, Kenton, Boone and Grant counties consider requiring that all restaurants and bars post signs telling customers whether they allow smoking inside, as a consumer protection. Those four counties make up Northern Kentucky’s health district.

Newly seated commissioners Pete Garrett and Brian Painter, keeping campaign promises and mentioning the importance of business liberties, joined Rechtin in rejecting the ban.

Some who urged county officials to keep the ban argued indoor-smoking liberty also would mean death for nonsmokers in Campbell County who would have heart attacks, strokes or asthma attacks triggered by others’ cigarette smoke.

“At least 88 people … could die, or will die, in 2011,” predicted Jennifer Mason, a ban proponent, who said she extrapolated that number from another study. She asked commissioners: “How does that make you feel?”

Dr. Robert Tracy told county officials that to strike down the ban would make Campbell County “a backward-looking community.” He added: “We’ll become the butt – and I mean that honestly – the butt of jokes.”

But the majority in the room – some of them offering a standing ovation – won the battle. Many said they didn’t believe studies that showed the harms of secondhand smoke, noting some of them are sponsored by foundations that oppose smoking.

Some criticized doctors and the medical community for taking a position on the issue. Ban critic Charlie Coleman, a county resident for more than 60 years, drew raucous applause when he compared anti-smoking efforts to tactics used by dictators such as Hitler.

Other opponents couched the debate as one between hard-working, blue-collar people and an elitist medical community that seeks to remove liberties of the common workers.

Tim Nolan of Grants Lick wore a white lab coat and called himself “a doctor of liberty.” He told county officials that a vote against the ban would show people: “Campbell County is the true springboard of liberty for the rest of the state.

“I’ve taken the pulse of liberty … it is very, very strong in Campbell County.”

Mason expressed disgust at the mockery of doctors, noting, “they save our lives.” She also noted television cameras were present: “We’re Campbell County, but this is going to be viewed all over the Tristate.”

Afterward, Pendery said the issue, which led to six consecutive capacity crowd meetings, was by far the most contentious in his 28 years of governing, including 12-plus with the county: “It’s not even close,” he said.

Enhanced by Zemanta

About Post Author

Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of

4 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Michael John Scott
13 years ago

Wow! I hadn’t heard about the Georgia fiasco Jess and I live here! Of course anything that the Heart of Darkness might contrive or attempt to facilitate would be good for God and bad for the people. I will check out the link. Thanks 🙂

Jess
Reply to  Michael John Scott
13 years ago

I follow a lot of pro choice stuff and this guy is the one that wants people in GA to pay the government in gold, get rid of drving licenses. He’s a real piece of work and takes batshit insane to a whole other level. It’s all about war on the uterus right now. I’m sorry to say as a female of child bearing years, I have suffered two of God’s abortions(miscarriages) so I would probably be a serial killer in this idiots world. I hope you all will still like me. I forget where it is in the bill but he has wording something to the effect, abortion is making GA lose workers. Um dumbass, solution right here, legalize the illegals you harp on about and you’ll have the workers.

A few of the sites I have visited, have suggested sending him feminine products in protest and the best idea ever was from a man saying, in solidarity with his sisters, “I will go ahead and send Bobby some unused sperm, see if he can find a home for it” Love the men that stick up for us wimmin, with funny ideas even.

lazersedge
Reply to  Jess
13 years ago

Jess, any chance of getting some sperm and an egg together and putting them up his butt, or perhaps implanting them inside of him? He might then see a reason for abortion for the health of the carrier of the fetus.

Jess
13 years ago

Oh Mike you and yer crazy talk about finding the ignorant in Kentucky, thinking you’ve never seen such ignorance. I can go one better than that and guess what, yeah it’s in Georgia so you never looked far neener neener neener 😉 I laugh because I will cry otherwise. Here is a bill that will make prenatal murder unlawful. You know, Georgia tries this every year, well as long as I have been following pro choice sites they do, bless their hearts. Yeah I know, I’m practising my southern talk and found out that’s an insult. Fetus/ii should be persons, when that luckiest of lucky spermatozoa does the dance with the egg to create new life. It should be afforded the same rights I have, as the carrier for a parasite.

If I didn’t know any better, I would think this was a coordinated effort by the republicans all over the land, to get things done to repeal abortion, with all the different states trying it on for size. Much like the union busting they would like to do in several states with republican majorities, but that would mean some big money was puling the string of the elected officials in these red stae. That isn’t happening, a coordinated effort I mean 😉

http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display.aspx?Legislation=31965

Previous post Father of “5 Browns” religious piano group admits to sodomizing daughters
Next post Philadelphia grand jury declares open season on pedophile priests
4
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x