IN DEFENSE OF LOWE'S: SEN. LIEU SHOULD BE IMPEACHED

Senator Ted Lieu needs to go

I read an article today that includes a letter sent from Senator Ted Lieu D-CA which really should have come as no surprise from this liberal but did nonetheless. It seems Senator Lieu has taken offense at Lowe's Home Building for pulling their ads from a TLC show on cable that no one watches calling Lowe's un-American, bigoted, and shameful. Sen. Lieu is un-American

What is Lieu's problem?

The show Lowe's pulled its ads from was the All American Muslim show on TLC. Lowe's had apparently gotten complaints primarily from, according to Lieu, the  Florida Family Association that apparently believes that “All-American Muslim is propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.”

So think what you want about the Florida Family Association. Personally, I can't stand the ultra right either.

With that said however, there is something inherently wrong with a sitting Senator like Ted Lieu who believes he has the right to threaten ANY business for pulling their ad dollars to spend elsewhere for whatever reason they so choose.

The All American Muslim show does not have any exclusive rights to ad income from any source no more than I do. If Lowe's felt they would receive backlash because of their ads on that show they have every right to pull the ads.

That is about as American as it gets in a free market society to react to your customer base to insure your business does not suffer.

For Lieu to play the, "I am a State Senator and you will do what I say or pay the consequences game" is about as un-American as it gets and he should be impeached immediately. Seriously.

From Senator Lieu's email to Lowe's, that he presumably put out publicly himself:

If Lowe’s continues its religious bigotry, I will encourage boycotts of Lowe’s and look into legislative remedies.

Lieu tries to justify actions

It further goes on to state the following:

I previously served on active duty in the United States military to defend our cherished constitutional rights, such as freedom of religion. As a veteran, I find Lowe’s action not just ugly, but intensely anti-American. As a Catholic, I find Lowe’s religious intolerance to be dangerous. As a consumer, I find Lowe’s bigotry to be nonsensical.

I urge you to use common sense and rescind Lowe’s bigoted action. You also need to apologize to Americans, especially those who are Muslim.

I served as well MR. Lieu and I find it very disrespectful and insulting to have someone who is supposed to be an elected Senator engaging in this type of behavior. I served to preserve freedom and our American way of life.

I would not assume any higher moral authority by hiding behind your supposed Catholicism either. Judge not lest ye be judged. Where were you when the Catholic hierarchy was hiding pedophile priests? That was an illegal act you could have gotten involved in and chose not to.

No. You sir are what is wrong with America today. Lowe's did what any company would do when faced with a potential downside to their business. They chose to go a different direction.

That is AMERICAN Lieu. Your version of nazism to deny a public business the right to spend their money where they choose to, totally legal at that, in advertising is un-American.

It is not up to you or any member of Congress to dictate to them what direction that would be. They are a consumer driven business and have the AMERICAN right to decide just what base they choose to appeal to. Within the law.

Lowe's has done nothing illegal OR un-American in this case.

Sen. Lieu commits illegal acts

You threatening legislative action because of your personal bias is illegal, however, and I would expect that the ethics commission would look into this matter immediately. I won't hold my breath waiting for it.

In the meantime I would hope that your constituents would now see you for who you are. An UN-AMERICAN Senator who feels that your power supersedes that of each of us real Americans and vote you out accordingly.

I will be working on that issue for you.

We real Americans deserve to see those like you gone.

Listen daily from 7-8pm at The Ed Springston Show. Also visit Louisville Politics for more details and in depth coverage of local political and news issues.

ED SPRINGSTON RADIO SHOW: ABRAMSON TO HEAD UP EDUCATION?

Ingram Quick named permanent City internal auditor, Andy Hodges joins us, Jim King likely to be Metro Council President for 2nd year in a row, Jerry Abramson, and so much more! . Louisville, KY's only local hard hitting political radio show.

Ed Springston goes on his usual rant this time against Abramson!

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Listen daily from 7-8pm at The Ed Springston Show. Also visit Louisville Politcs for more details and in depth coverage of local political and news issues.

ED SPRINGSTON SHOW: BLAGO GETS 14 YEARS

Ed Springston show from Tuesday. Louisville, Ky's own local hard hitting political radio show. Rod Blagojevich gets 14 year sentence, President Obama says limited government in free markets doesn't work, China urges Navy to prepare for combat.

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Listen daily from 7-8pm at The Ed Springston Show. Also visit Louisville Politics for more details and in depth coverage of local political and news issues.

RETIRED JUDGE STEPHEN RYAN: THE REAL DEAL?

Reposted from www.louisvillepolitics.com

One of the political races I will be following next year rather closely is the race for Commonwealth’s Attorney right here in Louisville, Ky. As many know, and/or believe as I do, Dave Stengel has been nothing more than a political hack who protects his Democratic buddies at our expense. We need a Kentucky criminal attorney to investigate him.  Need proof? The King case is one example, and there will be more forthcoming in that case soon, Jerry Abramson fallacies, and so on.

That’s my opinion and I am sticking to it.

While Stengel has always preferred going after cases he didn’t need to, remember the Stinson case at PRP?, in favor of using his office as a political tool by not pursuing anything against his Democratic colleagues, we have a chance now to correct that injustice.

With all this in mind I decided to start looking into this particular race a little early, even for me.

Enter Former Judge Stephen Ryan.

Ryan stood out on my radar for an obvious first interview for many reasons, but primarily because I have followed Ryan for years through the media and the courts, and have found myself siding with him more often than not. The smoking ban debacle and the Mel Ignatow case came to mind immediately.

Judge Ryan’s ruling on the smoking ban was dead on in my opinion thus denying Churchill Downs an unfair advantage. Why was this case important overall?

Because by making the ruling he did, he upset many status quo politicians such as former Mayor Abramson, and a lot of Democratic mafia hacks such as the horse industry and Churchill Downs folks. Knowing how his ruling would be perceived by the powers that be and still following the law proved much about the character of Ryan himself.

This case alone set him apart from the status quo political line we have become used to under folks like Dave Stengel. It is a sign that perhaps we may finally have a true candidate that does not put politics first for a change.

That in itself is refreshing.

I interviewed former Judge Ryan today and came away thinking that we may finally have the real deal for the office of Commonwealth’s Attorney.

I first asked Judge Ryan why he is interested in this job now after a long distinguished career of his own. Ryan explained that he feels there is much that can be changed within the office today citing one major example as the way we use the current diversion program. Ryan says the diversion program has been overused by the CA’s office and in some cases he himself had to deny diversions.
One example cited was a case he had where a defendant was recommended for diversion even though they had felony convictions from other states. Stengel’s office should have known that before even recommending diversion.

Ryan raised the issue that even though it may be a bit more costly in the short-term, doing a simple pre sentence investigation (PSI) could have saved time and money for the courts and eliminated this type of fallacy. Ryan also believes that the current Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office could aid in the overcrowding of dockets by being prepared for trial immediately thus eliminating long costly delays that tie up the dockets.

Additionally, Ryan says many judges are complaining that the diversion programs are overused. I would agree based on my own internal investigations.

Ryan also cited many things about his background that make me believe he could be the real deal as well.

When I asked why he felt the most qualified for this office his answers were immediate. Citing many examples he told me of his time as an MP in the Army, a probation officer while working his way through law school, a former Asst. Commonwealth’s attorney, and former District and Circuit Judge.

He also cited his good working relationships with the Judges and others within the system that will be beneficial to him if elected as our next Commonwealth’s Attorney.

I have to admit when listening to Ryan explain his history it is very impressive. He has the experience to see things from beginning to end and it creates a level of understanding we just aren’t used to from political hacks like Dave Stengel.

What was more impressive was the non assuming, matter of fact, non egotistical way he presented it. There were no “airs,” just facts and that was unique in itself.

I came away with some things about Judge Ryan that I did not know such as the fact that as a District Judge, working with the then Commonwealth Attorney, Ryan suggested the idea for the diversion programs currently used today. He also suggested the fast tracking program, commonly called the “rocket docket” by insiders.

Ryan also as Chief District Judge, working in conjunction with Judge Henry Weber, came up with the current drug court of which he was Judge for more than 10 years. When asked about the results from this Court, many believe it is not that effective, Ryan stated that of those who graduate from drug court there is less than a 20% recidivism by offenders.

When compared to those who do not complete the program those results rise to over a 60% recidivism rate.

Ryan believes that the drug court should be expanded with more focus being put on treatment and rehab versus incarceration. Ryan believes this will free up jail space, reduce our costs, while at the same time better utilizing our existing facilities.

All of which ease the budget pressure for the Commonwealth’s Attorney office.

Ryan pledges, if elected, to work closely with his attorneys, and the courts, to ensure that the laws apply equally to everyone, and that his office will be an open transparent one.

We hear that a lot from candidates who lie about this, remember Mayor Fisher‘s promises?, but in the case of former Judge Ryan, I actually believe we may get it.

Your thoughts?

Listen daily from 7-8pm at The Ed Springston Show. Also visit Louisville PolitIcs for more details and in depth coverage of local political and news issues.

LMPD's interim Police Chief Ishmon Burks WTF?

Ed Springston Show

Monday night the two Ed's, Springston and Martin talked about the Social Security nightmare, 9 yr old suspended for sexual harassment, Nancy Pelosi and her whopping nepotism, and LMPD interim Chief Ishmon Burks.

Of course Springston went on his usual tirade. Tune in below

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For more on the happenings around town including the latest on the Louisville merger check out Merger and Darryl Owens.

Listen daily from 7-8pm at The Ed Springston Show. Also visit Louisville Politics for more details and in depth coverage of local political and news issues.

LNP NEW SITE

Louisville News and Politics is upgrading and improving for each of you. Today we launched the official new website for LNP at www.LouisvillePolitics.com.

We will still continue to bring you great content here on the blog but it will now be used for basic updates etc instead of a general list of everything imaginable. The new site at www.LouisvillePolitics.com will focus more on the actual in depth stories and less on the fluff. Doing this allows us to use the blog as a personal site and Louisville Politics as a news site.

We will ensure that you continue to get the same old news you have become accustomed to getting right here at Louisville, Ky's #1 political blog but hope you will tune in as well to the new website for news. For most of you there will not be a noticeable difference, but for us on the business side there will be a huge one.

There will be links to both sites on each site as well as the standard links you have become accustomed to other blogger sites of interest as well.

Don't forget to join our twitter feed at myviewmatters and our RSS feed as well for all the latest up to date info.

Coming soon is our own youtube channel as well for the rants many of you have asked for.

Thanks for visiting and we hope you enjoy the new layouts and content!

Ed 
Listen daily from 7-8pm at The Ed Springston Show. Also visit Louisville Politics for more details and in depth coverage of local political and news issues.

METRO COUNCIL, REDISTRICTING, AND MORE

Ed Springston Radio Show

For all the latest on Louisville, KY's only local hard hitting political show click here: Ed Springston Show. It has been an interesting week of discussions including SB 1867, Barney Frank retiring, Metro Council redistricting suit, and more.

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Judy Green fanatics are at it again and this time over redistricting. Seems the Judy Green support club in District 1 (all 7 of them) have decided to instill themselves into the redistricting recently done by Metro. Their problem? They don't like the fact that the African American majority in District 1 has dropped from about 71% to the new 58%. Courier. Perhaps they are worried the money they usually get paid for their votes will now be diluted? We shall soon see but all looks legal to me with one exception.

The whole incumbent protection angle the Council members actually even stated was their number one goal. For that reason alone it should be thrown out.

Council stupidity

Some members should feel pretty stupid about now. MaDonna Flood primarily. Flood decided to waste her time on a local ordinance to once again ban such fireworks as bottle rockets, M-80's, etc.Courier Part 1 After it passed on a 11-10 vote, with the other 5 members apparently too scared to weigh in on the issue, Mayor Fisher signed this stupidity. Of course the very next day we find that the issue is far from over with the Council now set to reverse itself rather quickly Courier Part 2.

Seriously? We have nothing better to do than argue over this? Even Flood agreed that there were no more injuries than normally reported, though she says the seriousness of the injuries is greater than before, so why waste our time on something so trivial. If the kids are getting hurt hold the parents accountable for lack of supervision. If the adults are getting hurt it is generally because they do not follow proper safety procedures anyway.

You just can't fix stupid and apparently this includes Council members like MaDonna Flood.

Speaking of the Metro Council

Since the Council seems to have plenty of time to work on non issues like the one above perhaps they should revisit their priorities. This next one falls under what I refer to as a no brainer. In short common sense rules here and we apparently lack much of that with the current Council. Take this for example Consultant hired . Do we really need to pay even more of our money on wasteful consultants to tell us what we already know?

Tax dollars can only be spent for a “public purpose,” which currently is broadly defined as any an expenditure that “confers a direct benefit ... to a significant part of the public.”

So what is the recommendation?

An accounting firm advising the Louisville Metro Council on its discretionary spending practices said Wednesday that the council should work with the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office or the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office to more tightly define the ways tax money can be spent.

Once again spending money for some outside consultant to tell u what we already know.

Yep business as usual.

LMPD Police Chief District meetings

Tonight at 6 pm there will a combined District meeting, sponsored by Councilman David James, with Metro Council Districts 1, and 3-6 to discuss the selection of the next Louisville Police Chief. It will be held at the NIA Center at 2900 W. Broadway. Contact Councilman David James office at 574-1106 for more info.

At the same time Councilwoman Barbara Shanklin will be holding her own District 2  meeting regarding the same issue at Newburg Community Center, 4810 Exeter Ave. Contact Councilwoman Shanklin's office at 574-1102 for more info.

See you next time....
Listen daily from 7-8pm at The Ed Springston Show. Also visit Louisville Politics for more details and in depth coverage of local political and news issues.