Forty years ago this week, Ed Ryan, as chief of the Courier-Journal Frankfort Bureau, began the annual tradition of bestowing pretend Christmas gifts on Kentucky political figures, in gratitude for all the material they had given journalists to work with in the year about to end.
Today we live in a political world much different from the one Ed left when he died much too young in 1984. There’s more material than ever to work with, but precious little good humor and good faith. And with a super-contagious virus resurging a pandemic, and people in each major party seeing the other as a threat to democracy, humor might seem out of place at this point. But at times like these, we could use a smile or a chuckle, Christmas is a time to return to tradition, and we do have plenty of material. So here goes.
There is never a shortage of gift ideas for Kentucky’s biggest newsmaker for years, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Al Cross (Twitter @ruralj) is a professor in the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media and director of its Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues. His opinions are his own, not UK’s. He was the longest-serving political writer for the Louisville Courier Journal (1989-2004) and national president of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2001-02. He joined the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2010.
NKyTribune is the anchor home for Al Cross’ column. We offer it to other publications throughout the Commonwealth, with appropriate attribution.
First, a symbol of the largest legacy he is likely to leave: A model of the U.S. Supreme Court building, occupied by the McConnell Court as much as the Roberts Court. He kept Merrick Garland off the high court, creating an issue that helped Donald Trump get elected; he held firm when Trump nominee Brett Kavanaugh was in danger; and he helped make Amy Coney Barrett a justice even as Trump was in the process of losing the presidential election.
The model sits in a box of sand, because The Leader’s over-politicization of the court, and its resulting bend to the right, has weakened the foundation that our highest court needs for public support of its authority. That’s an essential element of our democracy, which is already under threat from over-politicization of the vote-counting process in some states – something McConnell seems unconcerned about, probably because it’s being done mainly by Republicans.
The senator also gets a piñata, since Trump, his allies and some Republican Senate candidates are trying to make him one. After rejecting Trump’s false election claims and blaming him for the Jan. 6 riot, McConnell stopped trying to lead his party in a direction it didn’t want to go, and helped block a bipartisan, independent probe of the riot. But as a House committee’s investigation got closer to Trump this month, McConnell endorsed it.
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville: A display case for those pens President Biden is using to sign those bills that have moved through the House Budget Committee that Yarmuth chairs. But Yarmuth’s biggest job of his final term may remain ahead of him: building back better Biden’s Build Back Better bill, torpedoed by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WVa.
The rest of Kentucky’s congressional delegation: Copies of the U.S. Constitution, with this passage from Article 6 highlighted in yellow: “The Senators and Representatives . . . shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution.” They all opposed an independent investigation of the anti-constitutional riot Trump incited.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul: The doctor gets an extra gift, for the quackery he has applied to the pandemic, most recently his assertion that masks don’t work against the coronavirus. The Washington Post Fact Checker gave him four Pinocchios; in this space, he gets a rubber duckie.
Gov. Andy Beshear: A few sessions with a speech coach, to help him be more coherent in public presentations; those of us who write them up often feel compelled to use paraphrases, ellipses and other devices to convey concisely what he’s saying. And to repeat a point, an audiobook version of a 2020 gift: Lou Cannon’s Governor Reagan, about succeeding with a legislature controlled by the other party. He didn’t view them as enemies.
The General Assembly: For every member, a printed copy of the redistricting maps prepared by the League of Women Voters of Kentucky. Yes, the nicely compact districts completely ignore political realities, but as the legislature prepares to perform that most political of functions – likely with the ruling Republicans increasing their advantages, much like Democrats did when they ran the show – they need to have some sense of what ideal maps would look like.
Every Kentuckian: A vaccination for COVID-19, and a booster shot to ward off the Omicron variant and keep our hospitals from being overwhelmed. An N-95 mask to protect yourself and others from the virus. For your smartphones, the app of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so you can get the facts instead of the flim-flam circulated by people trying to make money or gain political influence. And finally, our wishes to each of you for a year in which the virus and Covid-19 misinformation both subside. We can only hope and pray.
You’re doing a great job Man, Keep it up.
Well said, Mr. Cross, regarding the League of Women Voters’ fair maps. Let’s hope and pray the General Assembly takes the cue. BTW, the maps are at LWVKY.org and anyone can review them!
Members of the League of Women Voters appreciate your endorsement of our maps!
A big thank you and Merry Christmas to Joe Manchin, who could not be bullied by Biden and his cronies.
The League of Women Voters was able to compile maps that are more fair to voters, in part, because of input from thousands of Kentuckians across the Commonwealth, but also because from the outset they considered what would make sense to voters when beginning to draw maps. Redistricting should be about voters’ interests, not politicians’ interests. Check out the maps at LWVKY.org and call your legislators to support a fair and transparent process with public input.
Thank you Al Cross! The League of Women Voters of KY created fair, non-partisan maps by involving voters. When the leadership of the General Assembly would not seek voter input, the League held 10 Forums across the state and gave over 90 presentations to small, civic organizations. Check out the maps at LWVKY.org and call your legislators to ask that their maps been made available to the public prior to a final vote!