Louisville Kentucky

Kentucky, The State With The Two Worst Senators, But Appealing To Racism Of White Working Class And Poor, And Remaining In Office

Kentucky is one of the bottom ten states in economic statistics, and its two United States Senators are probably the worst combination of Senators of any state.

Kentucky is a state of many poor whites in Appalachia, with very meager education, if any beyond high school, and resentful of minorities advancing, although they are a smaller percentage than most states. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul have exploited the fears of their ignorant, poorly educated white population to stay in power, and do absolutely nothing for their citizenry.

Only Louisville, the home of the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, and Lexington, with the University of Kentucky, have any signs of interest in progress beyond the exploitation of fear of the federal government. And yet, if left up to them, McConnell and Paul would cut and destroy Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as mining laws that protect workers.

And Matt Bevin, an extreme right wing conservative, and wealthy businessman in the tradition of Donald Trump, managed to be elected in 2015, and faces reelection this November. Kentucky has only had three Republican governors since World War II, but one can be sure Trump will campaign among gullible poor whites, and stoke fear of minorities and of “socialism”, the programs of the New Deal and Great Society that keep these people above water, although barely.

Kentucky will have its gubernatorial election in November, with Andy Beshear, the son of the previous Governor, Steve Beshear, and presently Attorney General of the state, trying to defeat a governor considered close to the worst in the nation. Let us hope that he succeeds, as his father was considered an outstanding governor.

Old Urban-Rural Battle Among States Now Battles Between Cities And Rural Areas Within The States!

The story of much of American history is the struggle and battles between the growing urbanization in America, and the desire of small town, rural America to keep “traditional values”.

So the South, heavily rural historically, has always held back against reform and change, and switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in the half century since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 under President Lyndon B. Johnson.

But now, in 2016, we are seeing a revolt, an uprising of growing urban areas and university towns in the South against “traditional values”!

So we see urban areas in many Southern states promoting becoming “sanctuary cities” for illegal immigrants; supporting gay and transgender rights; calling for minimum wage laws to be reinforced and to promote raises; and working to undermine the Confederate flag as an appropriate symbol in 21st century America!

These growing urban areas include such locations as Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Atlanta, Athens and Savannah, Georgia; Gainesville and Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Jackson, Hattiesburg, and Oxford, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; New Orleans, Louisiana; Little Rock and Fayetteville, Arkansas; Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee; San Antonio, Dallas and Houston, Texas; and Louisville, Kentucky. The Democratic Party is growing in these areas, and African Americans and Latinos are a good percentage of that growth, and university towns are also part of the massive changes that are occurring toward progressive change.

But the rural dominated Republican legislatures are passing state pre-emption laws that deny these localities the ability to set up their own regulations and laws. Ironically, it means these Republican states are fighting to take away local controls, while fighting on the national level against centralized authority of the federal government!