Governor Fletcher's legacy and his final desperate acts to remain in office

With Governor Fletcher still lagging behind in the polls he resorted to posting the Ten Commandments in the Capital yesterday labeling himself “a man of values.” This is funny coming from Fletcher, a man who apparently has no care values of his own. Fletcher’s values consist of a crude calculation of how he can remain in office. His flip-flops on important issues are by now, legendary.

Fletcher began attacking the homosexual population of Kentucky soon after he was indicted to appeal to the right wing:

• Intolerant Fletcher says that since Kentucky has a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, it also includes banning health insurance, inheritance, and hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples. Funny, I don’t recall those items being included on the 2004 Constitutional Amendment.
  
• He refused to veto unconstitutional funding to the University of the Cumberlands, leading Kentucky Equality Federation to hold a protest outside the Governor's Mansion during the Governor's Annual Derby Breakfast (that brings approximately 15,000 people to Frankfort from around the nation).
  
• Governor Fletcher also rescinded an executive order Governor Patton had established protecting LGBT people from discrimination in government.
  
• Earlier this year Fletcher called the General Assembly into special session to (among other things) ban domestic partner benefits at Kentucky educational institutions even though he reappointed Regents to the Board that supported offering them.
  
• His latest aggressive tactic against the gay population includes trying to “scare” voters into voting for him, asking them whether they "want a governor who'd like Kentucky to be another San Francisco."

Ernie, politicians can learn so many things from your world famous flounders. The legacy of the Fletcher Administration will be "what not to do." Hopefully, First Lady Glenna Fletcher gave a “heads up” to staff to begin packing for an evacuation of the Mansion.

The "Gay Issue" to Governor Fletcher and the Kentucky GOP

According to today’s Herald Leader, the Republican Party of Kentucky and soon to be ex-Governor Fletcher called tens of thousands of voters since Friday asking them whether they "want a governor who'd like Kentucky to be another San Francisco."

But, that’s not all:

Then, last night, Fletcher's lieutenant governor candidate Robbie Rudolph echoed that to a crowd of more than 200 GOP faithful in Lexington. "Do you want a couple of San Francisco treats or do you want a governor?" he asked.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, called it Rudolph's "Rice-a-Roni speech."

I take genuine offense to the comments made by the Republican Party of Kentucky, Governor Fletcher, and running "mate." Their comments prove their hatred of homosexuals, and that they have no intention of allowing a “fair and equal Kentucky” so long as they are in office.

The Republicans, along with Fletcher, are at Battle Stations right now, with all hands on deck using buckets to pitch water out of a ship that is submerged.

We don’t want it to be like San Francisco here; just fair. We also want someone running the commonwealth who hasn’t been indicted, doesn’t think he’s above the law, and doesn’t flip-flop on issues.

Kentucky Museum draws more fire.

The anti-gay Northern Kentucky Museum arbitrarily throws science out the door and creates their own evolution timeline. The museum has made a lot of publicity around the commonwealth and indeed, the nation.

We felt the following posts from other bloggers in Kentucky was important enough to post on this site to inform our readers.

From DitchMitchKY: Three days after the Memorial Day opening of Answers in Genesis’ $27 million Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky, a group called Creation Ministries International filed suit in the Supreme Court of Queensland in the Commonwealth of Australia. Among other things, the suit claims the Kentucky group stole subscribers for its Answers magazine by claiming that the Australians’ Creation magazine was “no longer available.”

(Note: This post is a follow-up to the excellent piece that Daniel Phelps, President of the Kentucky Paleontological Society, wrote about the "Anti-Museum" (aka Creation Museum), as well as his disturbing discovery concerning the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau, as discussed below.)

From: Bluegrass Report: If someone wants to believe that humans once put saddles on the back of dinosaurs and rode them (per the display at left from the Creation Museum), well, knock yourself out. I'm sure they're one of those rare voting blocks that Governor Fletcher (R) has in his pocket.

But when legislatively-created agencies like the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau start pimping a place that promotes the fraudulent notion that humans and dinosaurs once happily co-habitation, where we rode them like something straight of The Flintstones, well, I have a problem with that.

Here's a page directly from the Bureau's website:

The 50,000 sq. ft. Creation Museum located within the greater Cincinnati area will proclaim the Bible as supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice in every area it touches on. Set to open in June 2007, this “walk through history” museum will counter evolutionary natural history museums that turn countless minds against Christ and Scripture.

According to this legislatively-created group we're told that national history museums "turn countless minds against Christ and Scripture." Got that?

After doing a little research, I learned that the President and CEO of the Bureau is a gentleman named Thomas P. Caradonio. Aside from the offensive proselytizing of his organization's depiction of the whackjob museum, I also noted that Caradonio was just appointed by Governor Fletcher as the Chairman of Kentucky's Tourism Development Finance Authority, a public agency that is charged to "assist small tourism attractions obtain financing necessary for the development or expansion of small tourism attractions."

So I guess this begs the question whether the Caradonio-led Tourism Development Finance Authority will be recruiting and spending state dollars on more Creation Museums as they accuse science-based activities as the shunning of Jesus Christ and Scripture?

Seems like another sad black mark on a state that spends so much money trying woo high-tech companies (i.e., those whose business models are firmly rooting in the very science its leadership mocks) to relocate to Kentucky while blasting those of us who (gasp) rely on science to explain things in our history...

Additional United We Stand Comments: I was shocked when I followed the link to the Northern Kentucky CVB and found the page Bluegrass Report mentions. The Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) is charged with collecting 1% in transient room taxes from hotel owners in the Northern Kentucky area. Anytime someone stays in a hotel in Kentucky they pay a 1% tax the hotel owners then pays to local CVB's to promote tourism.

In order to remain impartial, I agree that the CVB should list the Museum on their website. However, the words "museum will counter evolutionary natural history museums that turn countless minds against Christ and Scripture" should not be listed on the CVB's website.

Would they allow a hotel to place "the best place to have sex in the world," or "the only hotel without roaches," or how about "the best hotel in Northern Kentucky" on their website? I don't think so.

Family group plans Capital rally....even though lawmakers won't be there!

The American Family Association sent massive mailers to people across Kentucky this month asking them to "stop the special tax-supported medical benefits for the live-in boyfriends of homosexual teachers at University of Louisville." This illustrates the groups hate of homosexuals since LGBT people are expected to account for less 1% of those who enroll in the domestic-partner program.

The American Family Association needs to get a new agenda because this one is failing. A UCLA study released in February 2007 found that 61% of incoming freshmen last year agreed that same-sex couples should have the right to marriage, up 3.3 percentage points from 2005. America's opinion is changing! Perhaps this is what really scares the American Family Association, as well as the Family Foundation of Kentucky.

Governor Fletcher had asked lawmakers to consider a ban on domestic-partner benefits at state universities and other agencies during the July special session, but said he will honor the wishes of House Democrats and won't put the issue on the agenda of another special session.

The American Family Association of Kentucky has sent mailers in recent days touting a "rally to protect marriage" on the Capitol steps at 2 p.m. Monday, even though no one will be there!

A search of the Kentucky Secretary of State's database indicates they received permission from the Kentucky Department of State to do business in Kentucky on May 08, 2001 and are based in Mississippi. The group was incorporated in the State of Mississippi as a non-profit on July 21, 1977.

Check-out their website, it says they are "Upholding Kentucky's Christian Values." So.......I guess we are "Upholding Kentucky's Homosexual Values," how do think that would look as our 'catch phrase' on our website?

House Speaker Richards must lead Governor Fletcher by the nose.

Thanks to the efforts of House Speaker Jody Richards, Governor Fletcher has agreed to meet with executives from Peabody Energy for a private meeting on July 25 at the Louisville International Convention Center.

House Speaker Richards (who must now apparently do Fletcher's work for him) requested a meeting with Peabody Chief Executive Officer Gregory H. Boyce to gauge Peabody’s commitment and time schedule to locating an alternative fuels plant in Kentucky if the legislature approves tax incentives.

Governor Fletcher should have taken this action himself prior to calling the House and Senate into special session. This would have established the need for a special session assuming Peabody Energy is in fact going to make a decision soon about locating a plant in Kentucky as Fletcher has claimed.

Instead, Fletcher added a total of 66 other items to the agenda of his executive order calling the House and Senate into a special session, including a ban on domestic partnerships at all Kentucky public institutions that the Senate has already approved.

Governor Fletcher, Senate President Williams, and House Speaker Richards will be attending the meeting in Louisville.

Kentucky Senate Passes Ban on Domestic-Partner Benefits.

As most of you probably know, the Senate passed a bill to ban domestic-partner benefits at all Kentucky public institutions.

Senate Bill 5 (passed 28-6): Create a new section of KRS Chapter 61 to define a "public agency" as any agency participating in a state-administered retirement system or plan, any agency participating in the state health insurance plan, and any public institution subject to KRS Chapter 164; define "family member" as the employee's spouse, natural or adopted children, stepchildren, and children for whom legal guardianship has been awarded; require public agencies to allow the employee to select health insurance coverage for only the employee and family members of the employee.

Amend to make technical changes; add grandchildren for whom legal guardianship or legal custody has been awarded to the definition of "family member"; declare an EMERGENCY.

It remains to be seen what the House of Representatives will do with Senate Bill 5 when and if it makes its way to the House after the "cooling off period."

Fletcher's appeal to his right wing ultra-conservative voters appears to be paying off. Hasting Wyman's Southern Political Report released a poll conducted by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion showing Democrat Steve Beshear with a 41 percent to 38 percent lead over Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher.

Fletcher expected to outline topics the General Assembly may deliberate by Monday.

Kentucky Governor Fletcher is pondering issues for the General Assembly to discuss when he calls them into special session according to an article published earlier by the Herald-Leader.

Fletcher has been hinting for weeks about calling a special session that would at least include consideration of an energy bill on which lawmakers couldn't agree in March. He said last month he was waiting until after the May 22 primary elections.

Neither Jodi Whitaker, Fletcher's spokeswoman, nor Senate President David L. Williams would say what dates the governor was considering.

"The governor talked about several time frames, but I don't want to break his confidence," Williams said. But Williams added that this summer offers a "window of opportunity" while lawmakers' children are out of school and before the governor ramps up his re-election campaign in the fall against Democratic challenger Steve Beshear.

Beyond the energy bill -- which contains incentives for companies that would turn coal into gasoline -- other issues on the table include:

• State funding for the relocation of a runway at Blue Grass Airport.
• Restoration of money for university and state building projects Fletcher vetoed in 2006.
• Approval of funds for a stadium at the Kentucky Horse Park for the World Equestrian Games in 2010.
• A bill that provides state tax breaks to the families of active military personnel.
• A bill to bar public universities from providing health benefits to live-in partners of employees.
• And two Senate education bills left over from this spring's session aimed at improving math and science instruction.

Did you notice? A bill to bar public universities from providing health benefits to live-in partners of employees.

Equality and fairness doesn't live here, or more to the point, it has not in the Fletcher Administration.

We must remember Kentucky's first Republican chief executive in more than 30 years also rescinded an executive order signed by former Governor Patton that protected gays and lesbians in state government from discrimination. That's not even the worst of it.....of the 365 days in a year, Governor Fletcher chose "diversity day," to do this!

Governor Fletcher, a Baptist minister, also refused to veto 11 million dollars in funding to the University of the Cumberlands in Southeastern Kentucky to build a new pharmacy school after they expelled a gay student. The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky expressly prohibits funding to private educational institutions. This is ultimately expected to end up in the hands of the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Fletcher is expected to announce what the General Assembly may deliberate by Monday. Per the Kentucky Constitution, when the House and Senate is not in session the governor may call them into special session to deliberate specific issues.

Fletcher is under pressure from The Family Foundation of Kentucky to add domestic-partner benefits to what the General Assembly may deliberate, and drawing fire from Kentucky Equality Federation, Louisville's Fairness Campaign, and the Kentucky Fairness Alliance for even considering it.

Honesty and integrity isn't part of the Fletcher Administration.

Beshear Pledges To Air Finances Answers challenge from Fletcher
By John Stamper, Herald-Leader

FRANKFORT -- Answering a challenge from Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Democratic candidate for governor Steve Beshear said yesterday he will release his financial information, including tax returns, sources of income and a list of business partners.

Fletcher had challenged Beshear to release the information Wednesday as he deflected questions from reporters about his refusal to release the names of donors to a legal defense fund set up to pay bills stemming from an investigation of state hiring practices.

If Beshear agrees to release his personal financial information, as Fletcher has, "then he can talk to me about a legal defense fund and so can you," Fletcher told Mark Hebert of Louisville's WHAS-TV. "Then he's got some ground to stand on."

Told of the challenge, Beshear promptly pledged to release his financial information within the next three weeks.

"The people of this state deserve to know that a governor has no conflict of interest from his own financial interests," Beshear said yesterday. "So I'm going to release a detailed list of all my assets and liabilities, everybody I owe, what I own and where my income comes from so that nobody can have any questions about whether I have any conflicts or not."

Beshear said it was "ridiculous" for a governor with so many ethical problems to challenge his integrity.

After being told of Beshear's response, Fletcher's campaign manager, Marty Ryall, said Fletcher has no intention of releasing the names of donors to his defense fund until after Attorney General Greg Stumbo leaves office in December.

[...]

Fletcher's decision to withhold the names of donors was criticized heavily during the GOP primary for governor by opponent Anne Northup and Lt. Gov. Steve Pence.

Pence implied that Fletcher might be steering state contracts or handing out plum appointments to individuals who donate.

In an interview on Louisville radio yesterday, Pence said he will not support Fletcher during the fall election unless he releases the names of donors.

Governor Fletcher can dish it out, but can't take it.....he is unwilling to submit to his own statements and challenges. What difference does it make? Even if the governor did something illegal, he can just give himself a pardon (literally).

Governor Fletcher doesn't stand his ground on anything.

• Fletcher promised to change the good ol' boy culture of state government but became part of it instead.
• He punished those who disagreed with him.
• He took the Fifth Amendment because he had things to hide.
• He pardoned his whole administration because he was afraid of how high up the investigation into hiring abuses would reach.
• He cut a deal to end the investigation to keep anything else from coming out.
• Fletcher became the very thing he had vowed to change.

Not to worry however. The general election isn't far......afterwards, Kentucky will have a new chief executive leading the government.