BluegrassBulletin.com

Slow Blogging Until Later

Friends have arrived to spend some time in the hardwoods.  One has a new crossbow, the other is bringing a Christmas gun to sight in.

Be back soon.

New York Times Sued Over McCain "Affair" Story

When the New York Times accused a lobbyist of having an affair with John McCain the issue died very quickly.  Why?  Because it was totally false and the paper in its zeal to hurt McCain had wandered out on some very thin ice according to the woman who was the subject of those reports.

Now the paper has been sued for $27 million by the woman who says the story defamed her and the paper should pay.

"That The New York Times would make such aggressive and sensational allegations and insinuations in the face of on-the-record denials by Ms. Iseman and Senator McCain only reinforced the message to readers that The New York Times in fact believed that Ms. Iseman and Senator McCain had indeed engaged in an `inappropriate relationship,' a relationship that was romantic, unethical, and a conflict of interest," the lawsuit says. "Otherwise, reasonable readers would conclude, The New York Times would never have printed the story at all."

READ MORE

Morning Funnies

Absolutely Essential Video For Every American To See, NOW!

I just received a link to this video. It is absolutely essential that every American watch this. Please share it with everyone you know.

My Attorney Authored Resolution For RNC, Slaps Bush and GOP Senate

James Bopp Jr. is my attorney, as many know, in the lawsuit I filed against a strong tide of criticism from the bar association and my fellow lawyers challenging rules of the Supreme Court of Kentucky restricting the free speech rights of judicial candidates.  Our victories have come at a personal price, but for the better good.

Now, Mr. Bopp is credited with drafting a resolution being sponsored by national leaders of the RNC, including its vice chairman,  opposing resort to socialism in order to save capitalism, through the system of bailouts and nationalizing industries.

Republican National Vice Chairman and constitutional law attorney James Bopp Jr. authored the resolution and is asking the rest of the 168 voting members of the committee to sign it.

"The resolution also opposes President-elect Obama's proposed public works program and supports conservative alternatives," while encouraging the RNC "to engage in vigorous public policy debates consistent with our party platform," Mr. Bopp said. 

"Jim Boppis the author of the no-bailout resolution because he wants to articulate our core principles now, not every four years when we have a presidential election," said Mr. Yue, an Oregon member of the Committee. "This is based on the thinking that articulating political philosophy is equally important as applying it consistently."

"Failing to do so, we have today's identity crisis, which resulted in our losses in 2006 and 2008," Mr. Yue said. "The bailout is a good example ... In my view, if we are not going to address this, we will see more losses in 2010."

North Dakota GOP Chairman Gary Emineth said he too has had enough of the never-ending disconnect between what the platform says and what elected Republicans do.

"It is time the party gets involved in policy issues and forces candidates to respond to the platform," Mr. Emineth said. "Frankly the way we view the platform is a joke. We work hard to drive our principles into the platform, then candidates ignore it."

 HERE, HERE!!!

Lawyer Eric Deters Makes News, Again

Eric Deters is a lawyer in Northern Kentucky whose bulldog style has gotten him in the news again, this time for being fined $14,000 by a trial judge.

Deters is known for his very aggressive approach to cases, an approach which has not won him many friends among lawyers, the Bar Association or even with judges.  However, his style seems to suit most of his clients just fine. 

I've known Eric for decades and have watched him work.  What really upsets most of his colleagues has little to do with his legal abilities or his loyalty to his clients.  What really upsets most lawyers is that he refuses to conform to their notion of what a lawyer should act like.

No doubt lawyers need to be as certain as possible that the suits they file are meritorious, but in the history of the law it has often been the innovative approach taken by bold lawyers which has resulted in the kind of changes in the definition of justice which are only later celebrated.

I also know judge McGinnis who levied the fine.  In fact, I had my first case with him when we were both young lawyers.  He is a no nonsense guy with terrific instincts and I'm certain that he evaluated the facts and law very carefully before making his ruling. 

And I know Judge Bates of Grant County, the subject of much of Erics criticism.  Judge Bates and I ran for the same open seat and he won.  Since then I've had many cases in his court and though we do not always agree on everything, I have been very supportive of his tough stand on many issues and our relationship has been polite and professional.

The point of this post is not to defend Eric, or criticize his punishment or to suggest that the judges he has critcized can never be wrong.  The point is simply this: As the public stands witness to what seems to be one controversy after another involving lawyers it needs to be repeated for the sake of liberty and justice, that lawyers have a sworn duty to defend the constitution and to vigorously represent their clients.  This will often put them on the oppositie side of public sentitment, the opposite side of courthouse politics and sometimes even on the opposite side of their colleagues at the bar.  But these things should not work to chill their advocacy, their free speech or their spirit.

If that ever happens there would be no one left to stand up for any of us when the time came.  The American style of justice was born out of revolution and there needs to be a bit of the rebellious spirit in our lawyers for the future of American justice to survive.

Morning Funnies

Jackie and Dunlap come to the defense of "The Gays":

Obama Kin Coming Out Of The Woodwork?

When I offered a picture of Obama's family back before the election, the left leaning blog PageOneKentucky pointed its quivering finger at me and yelled "racist".  Now Politico is running with virtually the same story I wrote.

As I mentioned in my piece, many presidents have had to deal with the embarrassment of brothers, sisters, children and other kinfolk who suddenly became of interest once the new president was in office.  As Politco points out, that's often tough enough when your family are all from one continent.  In Obama's case, his family tree is very complicated and so may be the questions he will be facing.

READ POLITICO ARTICLE HERE

If You Haven't Seen This, Stop Right Now And Look

Front page of the Lexington Herald Leader features the video of "The Turtle Man".  You've got to see this.

LEXINGTON HERALD LEADER

"I just know there's a pony in here somewhere" Ky Dems Find Reason To Celebrate

Patrick Crowley has written an article spelling out how the Kentucky Democratic Party has found reason to be hopeful despite republican wins this past November. Quoting Jeremy Horton of the KDP, Crowley's article highlighted how the democrats are stating to focus more on tecnology in order to keep up with the republicans and their proven abilities to find and target voters.

"Vote Builder is an amazing tool," Horton said. "With the data we've put in, the demographic data and the targeting data, we can search for likely, gun-owning, Christian males who own dogs."

But I have a better suggestion.  Both the dems and the GOP need to stop carving up the citizenry into ever smaller pieces so they can "target" their messages (also known as pandering).

Rather than working so hard to find a zillion messages, how about finding the one single message that unifies our spirit, inspires our patriotism and rallies us to the larger cause.

And while I don't presume to know exactly what that message might be, I know one thing for sure.  The party which finds it first will deserve the inevitable successes that it will undoubtedly enjoy.