Law Student Jill Filipovic has two excellent posts up on Feministe this week, which follow up on that 1 in 99 statistic that was recently reported.

In “America Behind Bars”, Filipovic discusses the economic and social impact of the incarceration rate:

And entire communities depend on prisons for their economic stability. They have disproportionate political power — prison inmates count as residents, meaning that the areas are allocated greater resources that the inmates don’t benefit from and they’re counted in the population of Congressional districts. And inmates, of course, can’t vote — and in many states, they can’t vote once they get out, either.

Piggybacking on that post in “Judicial nominees, prison exploitation and discriminatory country clubs”, Filipovic takes a closer look at the prison-industrial complex and those who profit from it:

…like the private military contractors that the Bush administration pays to do our dirty work in Iraq, private prison employees were long not subject to the same laws that federal and state prison employees are…

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Republican Rep. Tim Couch is an idiot, and I have it on good authority from Mike Rotch that Rep. Couch has really bad breath, wears a Bro, and listens to Journey:

HB 775 (BR 1943) - T. Couch

AN ACT relating to information technology.
Create new sections of KRS Chapter 369 to establish definitions relating to Internet Web sites, blogs, or message boards; require registration prior to posting information to these interactive services; identify persons, businesses, or entities that post information to these interactive services; establish penalty provisions.

Mar 4-introduced in House

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Amanda votes pro-choice because she knows women are human.

Ann votes pro-choice because she’s a values voter.

Anna votes pro-choice because her personhood is not conditional.

Bean votes pro-choice because we have so far yet to go.

Cara votes pro-choice women’s health is not a “special interest”.

Jessica votes pro-choice because reproductive justice is about more than abortion.

Jill votes pro-choice because she values life.

And all these good people say it better than I could right now.

Me? I vote pro-choice for lots of reasons, most of which are mentioned in the links above. But also because I am sick of faux concern for women and faux concern for “unborn children” taking the place of actual concern for women and actual concern for children in the Commonwealth.

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I would like to point you to this post by La Lubu at Feministe. It is quite long, but an absolute must-read, especially for those who oppose SCHIP. No tugging at the heartstrings. No snark. Just a no-nonsense account by a woman continuing to do her damnedest to give her “micropreemie” daughter the best chances for survival and a happy, productive life.

That is what is behind the opposition to S-CHIP. That those currently without a safety net, save that of their own wages and savings, should necessarily suffer. Should declare bankruptcy. It is their destiny. After all, if they were Worthy People, they would be able to come up with the money on their own. They would be able to find a sponsor. Hence, the number of benefit parties, barbecues, chili cook-offs, mostaccioli dinners, and poker runs held at taverns, union halls, churches (temples, masjids), and social clubs throughout the midwest and elsewhere; a desparate attempt to come up with some kind of money, and prove some kind of personal worth in the face of cancer, accidents, heart attacks, strokes, premature birth, job loss and any number of cascading personal crises that don’t tend to arrive alone.

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Coming to a newsstand near you: The Nation with Bob Moser’s cover story entitled “Kentucky at War,” which examines Kentucky’s progressive grassroots community and how it’s reshaping the political and ideological landscapes of that state — and doing so outside the rigid, tepid, and unresponsive party structures.

It’s gonna be a hell of a read!

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Daniel Solzman of The Kentucky Democrat has a great interview with Lt. Col. Andrew Horne, who has been quite active this summer with Vote Vets, assisting the Iraq Summer Campaign, and continuing to pressure Mitch McConnell on his rubber stamping of Bush’s failed Iraq policy.

Some interesting comments in the interview, such as his discussion on how KY blogs have been able to coordinate with activists, using the wildly successful protests at Bellarmine, Mitch’s apartment and Berea as examples. He also discusses the 2008 race against McConnell, and what it would take to get him to join Stumbo in the Democratic primary next Spring.

Some excerpts:

DS: Did you ever outreach to bloggers on Kos or MyDD during your campaign? Also, do you have any thoughts on the way that blogs have revolutionized politics altogether?
AH: During the campaign I never personally initiated contact directly with any bloggers. I had some contact me and I know my supporters were very active in that regard.

I was and still am impressed with the way the blogs can disseminate information in a way that mobilizes people. However, there are blogs where the participants are simply talking but not getting involved. The important synergy is between the blogs and grass roots that can turn words into passion and then into action. A good example is the Iraq Summer Campaign. The blogs disseminated information across the state and the nation so that a small group of people in Berea, KY knew they were not alone in opposing the war and challenging McConnell to bring a responsible end to it. I have no doubt that some of those 100 people in Berea were there because they heard about 800 people in Louisville, KY or 400 in Boise, Idaho, or one of the other 40+ locations across the nation. That would not have happened without the blogs. The people in Berea did not hear about other events through the traditional media and would not have heard or seen the passion without YouTube and the blogs. I believe this trend will only continue as people who participated in the Iraq Summer Campaign and other similar causes adapt these tactics to their own agenda. I would call it non-linear activism.

…..

AH: If the right race comes around I am not done in politics. Regarding 2008 against McConnell, the encouragement I am getting is humbling but that is a race that should not be taken on lightly. Because of the amount and breadth of support I am getting I will take a very serious look at it, but in the end I will base my decision on what is best for my family and whether my candidacy will be in the interests of the people.

The entire interview is at The Kentucky Democrat.

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I’m pasting today’s Political Notebook from the Courier-Journal’s Joseph Gerth below. It’s especially fun to read today, and he even offers a contest at the end: email him your ideas for doctored photographs of Ernie Fletcher.

Okay, very briefly, let me tell you how I see the world of politics, political journalism, and political blogging evolving in Kentucky.

First, professional political journalists now produce (and will continue to produce in the future) the vast majority of raw factual, objective materials that bloggers use. That’s the case because journalists are trained professionals, they get paid to do what they do full time, and they build up the networks needed to get the information they need to produce their craft.

Second, bloggers — on the left and the right — take the raw material that journalists produce and put it in a partisan context. Now, of course bloggers do upon occasion produce news of their own, but that’s the exception and not the rule. As an aside, I would never, ever, ever want to blog full time. I enjoy my day job too much, which is probably what these journalists would tell you about their experience with blogging, too. There is a real need among political junkies for our partisan context, however. We also spur dialog and provide a platform that allows for ideological issues and differences to be vetted.

In the end, with all this talk in the national media and traditional press about the inherent friction between bloggers and journalists, I think the biggest threat to political journalists, their profession, and trade is apathy among the public and a population that is so disconnected and uninformed from politics that it can’t digest and engage with it at the level of complexity that is needed in an increasingly complex American society.

In short: political bloggers number among political journalists most ardent readers, and political blogging has introduced me to the work of several journalists that I was previously very unaware of. Political blogging and political bloggers, as they both mature as a medium and community, might well serve to strengthen and broaden the impact of political journalism.

That having been said, I want to say that I’m a little bit disturbed by the behavior of Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) and his goons as of late. This altering of the image of Democratic candidate Steve Beshear takes the cake. Why?

As a transparently and viciously partisan and vicious blogger, I can and do say very ornery things about incompetent Republicans in Kentucky. That’s the luxury of being a blogger, especially one sitting a thousand miles away in the quiet seclusion of Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library, where the only thing distracting me at the moment is a beautiful creature standing a few feet away from me and looking at the New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia.

I doctor photographs, like this one and this one. I say things like, “Ernie Fletcher has a vagina up his asshole,” and, “Robbie Rudolph is a redneck idiot with no formal education,” and, “Stan Lee mixing his Christian fundamentalism with our politics makes him no better than a radical Islamicist.” I say these things because there’s a lot of truth to them and I say these things because I can. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read my blog.

Yet, when our governor and his campaign start behaving like me, I think it betrays a great deal–that we already knew–about why the Fletcher administration is where it is. Ernie Fletcher and his goons never really understood the gravity and responsibility of the office and the unique opportunity they’ve been given. They still don’t understand it, and they never will understand it. But the people of Kentucky do understand it, and that’s why they’ll elect Steve Beshear this November.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Joseph Gerth | Political Notebook
Look before you leap

State Auditor Crit Luallen recently produced an audit mildly critical of the way state tourism funds have been spent, saying that Kentucky needs to develop a better strategic plan for spending new marketing money and determining if the money was spent wisely.

That upset at least one Republican blogger, Jessamine County Attorney Brian Goettl, of Conservativeedge.com, who asked in a headline: “What does LuAllen know about tourism?”

In the blog report, Goettl goes on to ask, “What does LuAllen know about tourism or marketing? What does her audit staff know about it? I would venture to say very little … LuAllen has no business making such pronouncements unless she can demonstrate her competence in the area or show that she relied on competent experts.”

Well. Luallen, a Democrat, points out that she served as tourism secretary under former Gov. Brereton Jones and continued to work on tourism projects as executive cabinet secretary under former Gov. Paul Patton.

During her time in those two roles, the state expanded or built convention centers in Louisville and Northern Kentucky, passed a $100 million bond issue to upgrade state parks and saw the private development of numerous attractions, including the Newport Aquarium, Louisville’s 4th Street Live and Kentucky Speedway, which she said were partly the result of changes she and the administrations she worked for sought in state law.

“The record is there,” she said. “I have a strong background in marketing, in economic development and in tourism and that was one reason we looked at this issue.”

Goettl said in an interview that he would like to review Luallen’s record as tourism secretary more closely before determining whether she and her office are qualified to make such recommendations.

The doctoring is in

Last week state Republican Chairman Steve Robertson said that doctoring photos is fair game in the governor’s race between Gov. Ernie Fletcher and his Democratic opponent, former Lt. Gov. Steve Beshear.

In its first salvo, the party unveiled brochures that have Beshear’s head Photoshopped onto a body wearing a white blazer, a white, open-collar shirt and a necklace, leaning against a roulette table and holding a glass of what looks to be white wine.

“Easy Money Steve” they call him because of his proposal to bring casino gambling, and $500 million annually in revenue, to Kentucky.

But we were a bit surprised by Democratic Party Chairman Jonathan Miller’s response condemning the practice. We figured the Democrats would view the Republican attack as tacit approval for such shenanigans if they chose to do the same.

If you were running Beshear’s campaign, how would you doctor a photo of Fletcher? And if you were running Fletcher’s campaign, how would you follow up the “Easy Money Steve” brochure?

E-mail me at jgerth@courier-journal.com, and we may run some of your responses in upcoming weeks.

Poll dancing

Last week we led with a couple of items about a poll by the Lexington public relations firm of Preston-Osborne, which drew questions on the Courier-Journal Web site from some readers who wondered if we had been “snookered.”

The poll, commissioned by The Lane Report, a Lexington business journal, dealt with issues ranging from the governor’s race to casino gaming and seemed to give Democratic gubernatorial nominee Steve Beshear an edge on several fronts.

The basic argument that we had been “snookered” is that Preston-Osborne was founded by Tommy Preston, a longtime friend of Beshear, and the firm also has a contract to do public relations work with the Kentucky Equine Education Project, which supports casinos.

The fact of the matter is that Preston sold his interest in the firm to Phil Osborne in 1997 and hasn’t been involved in the company since (although he and Osborne are friends and still talk regularly). As far as the KEEP connection, Osborne notes that if he fudged numbers for one client to benefit another, he wouldn’t be in business very long.

I don’t doubt he’s correct on that. But what ultimately led us to run the Lane Report results was the fact that the numbers were right in line with other polling data we’ve seen, which gives them some measure of reliability.
Outta here

I’ll be taking some much-needed vacation over the next two weeks. The column should return Sept. 10 but keep the cards and letters coming. I’ll be checking e-mails while I’m away.

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I’m back from the amazing YearlyKos Convention in Chicago, otherwise known to me as "the most wonderful place on earth". I was in Vegas for last year’s inaugural gathering, and this year was even better. In Vegas, I was in full "star watching mode", as I basically went to panels to see all of my favorite bloggers in person. This year, my main objective was to learn. Particularly, learn how to build Kentucky’s local/state blogosphere into a force to be reckoned with, just like so many others have over the past year. Specifically, I went to find out how we can Ditch Mitch.

And speaking of Mitch, let me tell you something. People here? They weren’t big fans.

The Ditch Mitch stickers were in high demand (Markos himself happily taking one) and our reputation preceeded us (Shawn and I). At a small state/local blogger panel in which everyone introduced themselves and told of where they blogged/commented, my mention of BlueGrassRoots and DitchMitch produced an unsolicited round of applause. Shawn Dixon spoke on the Southern Bloggers Caucus Panel and let everyone know that, yes, Mitch really is in that much trouble back home. Mitch is a marked man, and everyone from California to Maine gave us their best wishes and told us that they would root us on.

As for Mitch, he’s already scared enough to specifically name our website in his fundraising letters. Unfortunately for him, Kentucky’s progressive blogosphere is just get started.

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The DM-KY team has a jam-packed weekend, and while I won’t be attendance at Fancy Farm, my posting, too, will be sporadic. Don’t let that stop you from checking in, though, as I know that I am looking forward to hearing about YearlyKos and Fancy Farm from some of my favorite bloggers. (I’m not just saying that, I promise.)

To kick things off, check out Sam Youngman’s national coverage of Kentucky’s governor’s race and the impact it will have on the 2008 U.S. Senate campaign. I think all this interest will make for a very interesting picnic!

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Between hiring a stealthy campaign strategist for his 2008 reelection campaign, working to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and reluctantly voting for greater transparency in government, how on earth does Sen. Mitch McConnell find the time to draft some b.s. anti-family and anti-children legislation and find the nerve to call it the “Kids First Act”?

Being a literary sort of person, I should probably recognize this whole nonsense of cleverly naming legislation so that Americans will not be outraged at what the legislation really says and does as an ironic device. Fortunately, my low-brow aesthetic most always trumps my literary one, and from here on out I will refer to this practice (system, manner, or condition) as it occurs in politics, as “oppositism.” The noun “oppositicity” will describe the state or quality of being of an “oppositist” mindset. An “oppositist” shall henceforth refer to any politician who insults my intelligence by engaging in oppositism.

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In case you missed it, national blogger Matt Stoller highlighted the great work of Kentucky’s progressive blogosphere yesterday on his new blogging effort: Open Left. Stoller was on the conference call last week with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear, and it’s nice to have him, Cliff Schecter, and other national bloggers along for what’s going to be a wild ride over the next four months.

And make sure to check out Open Left.

PS: This wing of Kentucky’s blogosphere is most commonly known as the progressive, or lefty, wing, but we also answer to the name “the smart and sexy ones.” However, we do all admit that the MSM blogosphere is home to some pretty folks, too: Mark Hebert has nice eyes and Ryan Alessi has impressive ears.

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In an effort to reach out to the progressive KY blogosphere, soon-to-be-Governor Steve Beshear (D) conducted a conference call with several local bloggers. The roll call included: Matt, Shawn, Cliff, Jim and I from DitchMitchKY; Jonathan Singer from MyDD; and Ted Shlechter from The Bridge. (there might have been others, fill me in if I missed someone)

Beshear noted that the blogosphere is going to continue to play an important role in KY politics, not just in this year’s Governors race, but next year with the Congressional and Presidential campaigns. He felt that this call presented an opportunity to hear some concerns and feedback from us, and the gesture was greatly appreciated by all. Any candidate that wishes to have success in the next 2 years would do well to embrace the post-Bluegrass Report blogosphere.

Steve also noted that he was glad he avoided a run-off election in the primary, as the Kentucky Democrats appear to be united on all fronts and in good shape for this Fall. Though polls show him well ahead of Fletcher, he cautioned that we shouldn’t be overconfident. Fletcher is sure to raise and spend plenty of money for attack ads, which could always make it a close race. He did note that he plans on raising $4-5 million himself, excluding outside dollars.

Several of the questions and concerns dealt with Beshear’s advocacy of "clean coal" as the future of KY’s energy policy. Beshear said that he would sit down with leaders from all sides of the issue to reach some kind of common ground; allowing union leaders, environmentalists and industry to meet at the table. He also expressed a desire to enforce regulations on strip mining and mountaintop removal that are not currently followed through on. Additional funding for alternative technologies at universities will also be a top priority. He noted a quite interesting tidbit on the Peabody deal- that Peabody wouldn’t even have the feasibility study done for one of its plants until April. Which makes the special session plan a little….shady?

Beshear also talked a great deal about improving Kentucky’s economy. He noted that KY’s budget is currently woefully inadequate to fund everything that we are in need of. One method of increasing revenue, of course, is his plan to expand gaming. He also criticized the tactic of offering outside businesses tax breaks to move to KY as rather short-sided, in itself. He noted that such companies often move here for a few years, only to leave for Mexico or somewhere else where they can get even cheaper labor. Beshear wants to give small and medium sized independent businesses incentives to stay and thrive here in KY, and he also wants to fund job training programs.

When asked what he would do as Governor in the instance that a bill is passed which prohibits UK and UL from implementing its domestic partner benefits plan, he said that he would veto it. We need to help our universities compete nationally, and having the government impose such a restriction will not allow them to attract and keep our best candidates.

The folks at DitchMitchKY, BlueGrassRoots, The Bridge and MyDD thanked Beshear for setting up this conference call, as it shows a good deal of respect for both the KY blogosphere and grassroots activism. As local blogs in Connecticut and Virginia showed last year, we can have a huge impact on the political scene. We’re glad that Beshear and his staff have recognized this new political reality.

(crossposted at BlueGrassRoots)

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I’m not really sure how many supporters John Edwards had in Lexington on Friday morning, but I know that he has a lot more now. The line on John Edwards that is making the rounds is that his best asset in the campaign to win the presidency is not his humble Southern background, health-care platform or charm, but his wife, Elizabeth Edwards. After watching her performance during Friday’s Small Change for Big Change event in Lexington, I think that statement isn’t too far off base.

Elizabeth Edwards performed a rather spectacular hour+ Q & A session with over 200 contributors, fans, and potential voters. And due to the online outreach efforts of the Edwards campaign (thanks to Tracy and Amy, via DMKY’s Shawn Dixon) and the southern charm of DMKY’s own Jim Pence, Jim and I were able speak with Elizabeth face to face for roughly 10 minutes before her public Q & A session.

Though the Edwards staff thought we had a decent chance of chatting with her for a couple of minutes, shortly after we entered the venue and set up our cameras (Jim and fellow film guru Erica), we were told that there was no time for an interview. After Jim disappeared for a few minutes to chat up the Edwards folks, he came back saying that she might be doing a short “meet and greet” with some people.

“What’s a meet and greet?”

“I’m not sure”

“I’ve never been to a meet and greet”

“Yea, me neither”

Ten minutes later, Jim pulled me backstage and one of the staff stopped us and asked if we were the guys from DitchMitchKY and told us that we could speak with Mrs. Edwards in a few minutes, but not on camera or on tape. So while all of the slick, dolled up TV reporters waited for Elizabeth to come out for the Q & A, the blogger in ratty Chuck Taylors and ripped pants, and the hillbilly with the Acapulco shirt were whisked upstairs to meet her.

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Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog reports that the Supreme Court has struck down race-based public school integration programs in Louisville and Seattle:

“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race,” Roberts wrote. On the two school plans, the majority found that the districts have “failed to provide the necessary support for the proposition that there is no other way than individual racial classifications to avoid racial isolation in their school districts.”

This is great news because Louisville children are no longer adversely affected by Jim Crow practices that ended decades ago.

Snarkiness aside, I don’t have a dog in the fight, really. I didn’t grow up in Louisville and don’t have kids. Living in the country, long bus rides to and from school were a way of life.

Part of being a big-mouthed know-it-all is asking questions. What will be done to ensure that de facto segregation doesn’t happen again? Whatsmore, what, if anything, will be done to ensure that all public schools and communities are provided with the resources they need to help students achieve academic success? Where does our dialogue about poverty, housing, education, and race go from here? Does this court decision effectively shove cotton in the ears of those who continue to say that the playing field was leveled long ago?

The Courier-Journal offers local coverage of the SCOTUS decision, and if article comments are any indication, I’d say the answer to that last question is, “yes.” Daily Kos and Think Progress offer opinion on the court decision. I think that both sides of the busing debate make compelling arguments, but in the end, I can’t help that this decision makes me extremely uneasy. Makes you wonder who those “activist judges” really are.

Addendum: Check out the C-J’s editorial response to the Supreme Court ruling.

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On Monday night, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart will feature some footage shot by Kentucky’s very own Jim Pence of the HillybillyReport.com and also a contributor here at DitchMitchKY.com.

When the history of Kentucky’s blogosphere is one day written, that history will note that among the most prolific, dedicated, and certainly most unique contributors was Jim Pence of Hardin County.

For, in his retirement from a decidedly industrial-era career, Jim took to and took on the Information Age, and in the process he molded it and taught us all a thing or two about how to use it effectively and creatively.

Jim’s niche, by the way, is digital video, and his work is known for its biting wit and unrepentant orneriness, a style he has rightly and proudly labeled “hillbilly.” He has traversed the state recording the intersection of national, state, and local politics in Kentucky, and — through the Internet — he has made that material accessible to the entire world and has, in fact, given it to history.

And the world is using it.

You see, while perusing YouTube for video of Wesley Clark last week, a researcher for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart came across some of Jim’s footage of Clark in the fall of 2006 stumping for Democrat Col. Mike Weaver in his campaign in Kentucky’s Second Congressional District. They immediately contacted Jim, offered to have the video overnighted to their studios, and have said it will air on Monday night.

So, let’s all offer Jim our congratulations for a job well done and take a second to marvel a bit at how the era we’re living in is reshaping the creative and political landscape, when people like Jim Pence and Jon Stewart can come together to make a rather powerful point.

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Our very own and BlueGrassRoots veteran Joe Sonka’s excellent coverage of Kentucky’s crazy Creation Museum earned some pretty spectacular stats for both BGRoots and Ditch Mitch KY.

I mean, you gotta love people like Creationists, who can in one museum display justify the incest of biblical-era characters while attempting to undermine the legitimacy of same-sex marriage.

I think it’s really fitting that DMKY crossed the 100,000 unique visits on its three-month anniversary to the day. This site officially launched on March 12, 2007.

Joe tells me that BGRoots saw roughly 26,000 unique visits yesterday alone; DMKY had over 11,000. Here’s a pretty picture for you to look at:

Thanks, Creationists, for spending $27-million to help our little efforts here in Kentucky’s lefty blogosphere.

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This story is of interest to the evolution of live blogging and blogging generally. It begs a good question: is there a difference in blogging about the event, which in this case was an NCAA baseball super-regional, on location or from afar, say watching the event at home on TV?

For the former, there’s a credentialing process, and there’s the benefit of being in the actual environment of the game, which provides a better perspective and produces, one would hope, a keener analysis, a term the reporter invokes.

I lean towards the NCAA on this one. It’s their jurisdiction, and no-one’s stopping the C-J reporter doing his ditty from the comfort of home or office. The NCAA might not control what are facts, as the reporter argues, but they do control the distribution of those facts in situ.

Courier-Journal reporter ejected from U of L game
Bennett removed for blogging super-regional

By Rick Bozich

A Courier-Journal sports reporter had his media credential revoked and was ordered to leave the press box during the NCAA baseball super-regional yesterday because of what the NCAA alleged was a violation of its policies prohibiting live Internet updates from its championship events.

Gene McArtor, a representative of the NCAA baseball committee, approached C-J staffer Brian Bennett at the University of Louisville’s Jim Patterson Stadium in the bottom of the fifth inning in the U of L-Oklahoma State game. McArtor told him that blogging from an NCAA championship event “is against NCAA policies. We’re revoking the credential and need to ask you to leave the stadium.”

[…]

U of L circulated a memo on the issue from Jeramy Michiaels, the NCAA’s manager of broadcasting, before Friday’s first super-regional game. It said blogs are considered a “live representation of the game” and that any blog containing action photos or game reports would be prohibited.

“In essence, no blog entries are permitted between the first pitch and the final out of each game,” the memo said.

[…]

“It’s a real question that we’re being deprived of our right to report within the First Amendment from a public facility,” said Jon L. Fleischaker, the newspaper’s attorney.

“Once a player hits a home run, that’s a fact. It’s on TV. Everybody sees it. (The NCAA) can’t copyright that fact. The blog wasn’t a sim