Kentucky Needs a Civics Lesson
Do you remember your days of compulsory K-12 education? Whether you went to public school or private school, whether you studied in a city or in a county, you went to school. For 13 years. And you studied civics. And you spent at least a day or two of your school years observing your state legislature, or maybe you even took a field trip to our nation's capital. Or, at the very least, you watched a lot of Schoolhouse Rock.
Well, at least I used to think that we'd all spent a lot of time studying civics and political procedure. It sure doesn't feel like it lately. In fact, there are a whole lot of self-interested, small-minded actions going on lately-- actions incited by both our citizens and our law-makers. In this Presidential election year, it seems that the entire United States is engaged in an ugly, uncivil, contentious debate of political ideology for the sake of entertainment. We conduct personal attacks on those who don't share our political beliefs. We adopt the groupthink of our chosen political news outlets with little regard to the actual political process. We try to bend our nation's legal and political framework to fit our whims and our prejudices and our dislikes. And, sadly, our beloved Commonwealth of Kentucky has some of the most egregious examples of these behaviors. It really feels like the Bluegrass State could use a civics lesson.
I recently learned that there's an online movement to impeach Governor Matt Bevin. I guess it makes sense, in the age of Facebook activism and Go Fund Me financing. We think that we can sign a petition that says "I don't like what this guy is doing" and it means that we've taken a stand. The thing is, Governor Bevin is fulfilling his campaign promises, whether we like them or not. He explicitly said that he'd work to dismantle the healthcare exchange. He said he'd take the hardest possible stance against abortion. And, it's really hard to even define impeachable behavior for Kentucky's elected officials. We don't have a lot of precedent, nor a tangible definition. Not liking a governor's plan of action is not basis for impeaching him. It's a call to action for Kentuckians who don't agree to contact their legislators, campaign for like-minded candidates, and actually vote in state elections.
And then, there are our elected officials. While I actually don't agree with many of the commonly-held negative characterizations of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, I do believe that his machinations to block an Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, while perhaps politically brilliant, are obstructionist at best and perhaps downright petty. More moderate Republicans call for Senator McConnell to put the Constitution (and his own duty as an elected official) above partisan politics, while opponents have cited the hypocrisy of his voting to confirm Justice Kennedy during the last year of the Reagan presidency. It may be good politics, but it certainly feels petulant.
And now, it seems, a Kentucky State Senate committee approved a bill that would legally protect businesses that don't want to serve LGBTQ customers. Let me say that again: There is a bill before the Kentucky Senate that would allow business owners to turn customers away based on sexual orientation. Perhaps most disturbingly, the language of the bill is shrouded in the natural rights theory of Rousseau and Thomas Jefferson, as though it were established from on high that business owners shouldn't have to deal with gay people if they don't want to:
To recognize that our country was founded on two (2) self-evident truths: that all persons are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; -- Kentucky 16 RS BR 1548
Now, I've spent most of my adult life writing about Kentucky, celebrating Kentucky, and championing the Commonwealth to those who think we're backward, ignorant, and ill-informed. Today, I actually sat down and cried when I learned of this bill and considered the direction in which my beloved home state is headed. This is wrong. This is Big Brother. This is proving all our detractors and our haters right. I don't care what your political or religious motivation is; we're setting Kentucky up to marginalize large groups of people.. We're setting our state up to have our very own Medgar Evers, 53 years later.
It's time for Kentucky to separate knee-jerk reactions from political ideology. It's time for all of us to think about what we actually believe in and how we can express our needs and beliefs to our elected officials. It's time for a serious civics lesson, y'all.
Why I'm Voting: Glenda
Glenda votes based on candidates' support of rare disease research that could potentially save her daughter's life.
The Huffington Post recently ran a piece entitled Why 27 Influential Women Are Voting This November (And Why You Should Too). The post, and its accompanying hashtag campaign, come in reaction to a Fox News host's suggestion that young women stay away from the polls and "stick to Tinder and Match.com." Earlier today, I shared my own reason for voting in today's election. HerKentucky writer and photographer Glenda McCoy kindly shared her own #WhyImVoting sign, and it really is the best reason I can imagine. -- HCW
Longtime HerKentucky readers know that Glenda and her husband David have spent the last 13 months in search of a diagnosis for their young daughter Katherine Belle, who suffers from an as-yet undiagnosed rare disease. Glenda works tirelessly to raise awareness for rare diseases, and hopes that candidates will support rare disease research funding. For Glenda's family, it literally is a matter of life or death. You can read about KB's journey at HopeforKatherineBelle.com.
We love this shirt that KB wore to the precinct today!!
Why I'm Voting: Heather
When you know the candidates, you have absolutely no excuse to not vote.
The Huffington Post recently ran a piece entitled Why 27 Influential Women Are Voting This November (And Why You Should Too). The post, and its accompanying hashtag campaign, come in reaction to a Fox News host's suggestion that young women stay away from the polls and "stick to Tinder and Match.com." Here's my own take on #WhyImVoting. -- HCW
This year, for the very first time, I put an election sign in my yard.
For me, voting has sort of come full circle. When I was on college, I was on fire for a candidate. I belonged to my school's party-affiliate club, I campaigned, and I met the candidate. My friends and I were all political science, pre-law types. We were going to rule the Commonwealth and possibly the nation. Then, along the way, I got disenchanted. As I've said before, I started to feel really distant from the process. I railed against partisanship. I made excuses. I stayed informed, and I usually voted (well, in the big elections, anyway...), but it became much more of an academic exercise than a personal interest.
This year, I got a pretty significant reminder that I have absolutely no excuse to not get involved. This year, I know a lot of the candidates, both personally and professionally. Obviously, this comes from the fact that my fiancé and I spent our twenties working in big law firms, and from the fact that we've both lived in Kentucky for most of our lives. As people announced their candidacy for this year's elections, we started to see more and more friends and acquaintances among the ranks. A partner from Bob's old office, and an associate from mine. One of my former clients. Our classmates. My sorority sister. My college roommate's then-boyfriend, now-husband. A friend with whom I sit on a charity board. Family friends. These folks hope to become our next judges and Congresspeople. There's even a candidate for Coroner up in the mix.
Now, this doesn't mean that I'm solely voting for old friends. Some are running for local offices in other corners of the state. Others may not do the best job. It does mean that I'm a lot more interested in the process because I know these people well. I've been to their houses. I've engaged with them over dinner, drinks, or in-depth conversation. I know them, and I no longer have the excuse that I'm not part of the process.
I vote because I know these candidates. I quite literally have NO EXCUSE not to vote.