Culture

By Gary Houchens

Feeling stressed about the weather? Don’t worry. The government loves you.

That’s the perplexing message from Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. When snow and ice swept through the state in early January, Beshear made a rather bizarre post on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“If you or someone you know is dealing with the emotional distress of compounding traumatic weather events, call the Disaster Distress Hotline,” the Governor wrote, and then added, “We love you and we are here for you.”

The absurdities of this post abound and reflect so much that has gone awry in the way Americans on the political left think about the role of government.

If you’re like me, you have never heard of the Disaster Distress Hotline, but it has been around since 2012, when the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) received funding to assist citizens in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 

SAMHSA, which spends around $8 billion of taxpayer money per year, in turn pays the nonprofit Vibrant Emotional Health to administer the hotline. In 2024, Vibrant was award $80 million over two years to administer the disaster hotline and the national suicide prevention hotline.

Suicide prevention is obviously an important goal, and in the immediate wake of a disaster, there’s a place for a hotline to connect survivors with resources for recovery. When tornadoes demolished swathes of Kentucky in 2021, we saw both the financial and the emotional toll to victims, a toll that did not immediately subside when the physical damage was cleaned up.

But do we really need a hotline for snowstorms and power outages? These are stressful events, especially for those of limited financial means. But why wouldn’t the Governor first encourage people to reach out to local churches and nonprofit entities for help?

Instead, Beshear encourages a world where those with fewer resources are not just dependent on the government for financial benefits, but also for emotional support. This is a governor who mistakes an expensive, faceless government bureaucracy for “love.”

Paradoxically, this is also a governor who unnecessarily tried to shut down schools, businesses and churches for months during COVID with insufficient regard for the “emotional distress” it caused. But of course, even then what he meant by “love” was the heavy, soulless hand of the state depriving you of genuine community.

Marriage, families, neighborhoods, civic organizations, and faith communities have all been in steady decline thanks to policies advocated by the political left. Now that these sources of genuine community are gone from so many people’s lives, the left sees only a world of isolated individuals dependent on an all-powerful state.

The government cannot love you. Andy Beshear can personally love you, but only if he’s directly involved in your life, giving of his personal time and resources to help you. It’s not love when he’s using someone else’s money or some government contractor on the other end of a telephone line.

There may be a place for a taxpayer-funded disaster hotline. But it’s no replacement for community. It’s not for dealing with the normal stresses of routine weather patterns. And it’s not “love.”

Gary Houchens, PhD, is professor of education administration and director of the educational leadership doctoral program at Western Kentucky University.

By Chip Ford

The Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center recently imposed a new security policy that deprives patrons of their right to carry a weapon for personal protection, even if they possess a permit. But this policy actual makes SKyPAC customers less safe.

I’m sure the authors of the new SKyPAC policy were well-intentioned. They’re probably confident all risks have been mitigated if not eliminated through their TSA-like security screening impositions. But nothing can ensure total safety, despite sincere assurances to the contrary – especially not against obsessed evil.

On July 20, 2012, about 400 patrons filled a Cinemark multiplex theater in Aurora, Colorado, for a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. Among them was 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes.

Holmes bought his ticket, went into the theater, and sat in the front row, according to the police report. About 20 minutes into the film, he slipped outside the darkened theater through an emergency exit door alongside the screen, which opened to a rear parking lot where he’d left his car. On his way out, he propped the door open a crack. Ten minutes later, he returned through that unsecured door and opened fire on the audience – 76 shots from his tactical shotgun, a semi-automatic rifle with a 100-round drum, and a .40-caliber pistol. Twelve people were killed, including a 6-year-old girl; 70 were injured.

Three years later, Holmes was convicted of all 165 counts against him. He was sentenced to 12 life imprisonment sentences without parole and a maximum of 3,318 additional years on attempted murder.

In 2016, a not-liable verdict was returned against Cinemark Cinemas in a civil trial, denying victims and their families damages compensation. Their lawsuit alleged the theater had lacked adequate security. Nobody was held accountable for the theater’s “gun-free zone” invitation.

In a 2012 analysis of the Aurora theater massacre, Dr. John R. Lott, Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, noted that, of the seven area theaters showing The Dark Knight Rises on that night of July 20th within a 20-minute drive of the targeted theater, six allowed permitted concealed handguns and only one prohibited them: Cinemark Theater had “no weapons” signs prominently posted.

Lott posited: “So why would a mass shooter pick a place that bans guns? The answer should be obvious … disarming law-abiding citizens leaves them as sitting ducks. Gun-free zones are a magnet for those who want to kill many people quickly. Even the most ardent gun control advocate would never put ‘Gun-Free Zone’ signs on their home. Let’s stop finally putting them elsewhere.”

As a quasi-private, taxpayer-subsidized enterprise, SKyPAC is perhaps within its rights to impose this misguided policy. Regardless, that disastrous 2012 “gun-free” theater policy, and the unsuccessful 2016 civil lawsuit by the victims against the theater, left 12 helpless patrons dead, 70 injured, and nobody held responsible but an opportunistic, deranged killer.

Personally, I would not be caught dead (perhaps literally) patronizing any venue which strips away my right of lawful self-defense against the potential mayhem of evil.

I suspect I’m not alone.

— Chip Ford of Bowling Green is a member of Warren County Conservatives and of the Green River Gun Club.

Article published in the Bowling Green Daily News November 9, 2022

In 2019, Bowling Green was on the brink of overhauling the city municipal code by expanding discrimination protection to include “gender identity and sexual orientation.” 

As written, Ordinance No. BG2019-12 would have empowered the Bowling Green Human Rights Commission with unprecedented extra judicial authority outside the legal system to investigate complaints, hold hearings, employ attorneys, and sanction committees to carry out its work. This is patently unconstitutional, as extra judicial agencies are prohibited by the Kentucky constitution unless explicitly defined by law. 

The proposed ordinance also authorized the Commission to impose fines, including compensation for “humiliation and embarrassment” and the ability to petition the Warren County Circuit Court to issue subpoenas to compel witnesses to testify.  Those who violated Commission orders could be charged with a misdemeanor, and if convicted, fined and/or imprisoned for 30 days.

This proposed law and others like it are often called a “Fairness Ordinance.”

Efforts to bring this unfair ordinance to Bowling Green began in 2017 when City Commissioner Brian “Slim” Nash introduced a motion for its adoption.  No other commissioner seconded the motion and the effort failed to move forward. 

In 2019, Nash introduced it again.  This time, the motion was seconded by current City Commissioner Dana Beasley Brown, but ultimately failed with a 3-2 vote against its adoption.

Nash no longer holds a seat on the City Commission, but this issue is not dead.

Beasely-Brown is up for re-election in November, has voted for ‘unfairness’ in the past and is on record for continuing to support it.

City Commissioner Carlos Bailey, who is also running for another term, writes in a June 2021 post on his social media page, ‘it’s time to make sure fairness laws pass on the state and local level and I will support laws that increase equity, fairness, and justice for ALL people!”

Mayoral Candidate Patti Minter has long championed ‘unfairness’ in her failed re-election bid for State Representative in 2022 and now in her current campaign for Mayor. In a February social media post she writes, “Proud to speak at the Fairness Rally this week at the Capitol about my advocacy for a Fairness ordinance in Bowling Green. It’s past time that Bowling Green join 24 other cities in Kentucky that have this protection.”

With Minter, Beasley-Brown and Bailey supporting ‘unfairness,’ the November City Commission election presents a crossroads for our community – one more vote in favor of the ordinance will make it a reality in Bowling Green.

Despite all of the energy invested in this effort, there are no documented cases of sexual orientation/gender identity discrimination in Bowling Green, as verified by city officials last month.

In choosing our city’s Commissioners this fall, voters will decide whether our community stands for equal rights for all, or special rights for some. Federal discrimination laws and state statutes already exist to protect citizens from discrimination. Our community should find elected officials and candidates that encourage these ideas repugnant, and vote accordingly.

Tonja Tuttle is the co-founder of Warren County Conservatives. She can be reached at tonjatuttle@warrencountyconservatives.org.

It’s an issue that concerns many communities. Scantily clad men dressed as women and women dressed as men gyrating on stage in publicly funded venues. 

Until 2023, Owensboro taxpayers paid for monthly drag performances at the Ghostlight Lounge, located inside RiverPark Center.

Fed up and concerned about the community’s reputation, a handful of citizens formed Daviess County Citizens for Decency and called on city officials to do something.

City officials refused appeals to shut down the event, saying drag shows are not considered adult entertainment. 

The citizens protested, voicing concerns about the community’s reputation, and the effect of normalizing drag shows on children. “They understand that normalizing this behavior will allow them easier access to our children. This is not about entertainment. This is about an agenda…..an attempt to groom our children,” said Jerry Chapman, leader of Citizens for Decency.

Chapman’s group persisted, petitioning RiverPark Center’s private and corporate donors and sponsors in the course of several mailings, calling for an end to the drag shows.

The petition read:

“Drag queens were witnessed performing sexual acts upon each other during events at the RiverPark during Pride week. An elderly female volunteer was confronted in the ladies room by 2 men. Indecent dress, exposure to children and elderly ladies as well as public sexual displays are an abomination and illegal. What adults do on private property or in their own homes is strictly their business, but there is no place for this conduct in our community. Your drag queens and your patrons have made it abundantly clear they have no respect for our community. These shows are far beyond the realm of entertainment and are simply an affront to our citizens and an assault on our reputation.”

Unsatisfied with the response from donors and sponsors, Citizens for Decency decided to take their case to Owensboro taxpayers by mailing a postcard to 7,500 households.

The postcard, showcasing drag performance pictures, asked “Have you had enough?”

The response from taxpayers was “overwhelmingly (85%) positive” according to a press release. “Our biggest struggle has been awareness. That’s why the mailers were so key to our success,” Chapman said.

Hundreds of citizens plus forty-seven Faith leaders and their congregations eventually signed the Citizens for Decency petition. The issue became so contentious that the Daviess County Fiscal Court voted to defund RiverPark Center. Judge Executive Charlie Castlen cited the “divisive” nature of the events and poorly managed tax payer dollars for the change.

Castlen announced, “When they have created something as divisive as it’s been in our community, and they readily admit they’re losing money on it, and yet they keep doing it, it’s almost as though they’re saying, ‘We don’t need your money.’”

Since then, the manager of the GhostLight Lounge was fired, the lounge closed and the RiverPark Center Executive Director was fired – a clear win for a small citizens advocacy organization.

“We awakened the sleeping giant,” Chapman said. ”So many, myself included, believed Owensboro was immune to the ailments of the world. My initial reaction when I was told about the drag shows … was, ‘no way! Not in Owensboro.’ We all had a false sense of security because Owensboro is a Christian community.”

While the City Commission did not change its funding for RiverPark Center, this experience will play a role in filling future City Commission vacancies.

“As individuals, my wife and I have been very involved in the Daviess Co. Republican Party. I proposed and organized a candidate development committee. This committee will find, vet, train and support conservative candidates for local and state positions. We are committed to putting Conservative leaders back in charge of our governments. “

About Tonja

Tonja has a varied background, including a degree in Russian from the University of Kentucky, and a Masters degree in International Studies from Old Dominion. Her intergovernmental / private policy work began as a part of the founding team that created Visit Florida, which partnered with the state of Florida and private tourism organizations to establish Florida as a pre-eminent destination.  Upon returning to Kentucky, she changed careers to focus on her true passion – helping people in her hometown; becoming a Nurse and founding Warren County Conservatives. 

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Read the original reporting and other commentary:

Community members express opposition to Fiscal Court’s proposed defunding of RiverPark Center, The Owensboro Times, May 5 2023

New Daviess County budget proposal may affect local drag shows 44News May 4, 2023

Daviess Fiscal Court Considers Cutting Controversial Funding, Commonwealth Policy Center, May 2, 2023

Postcards Opposing Local Drag Shows Sent Out to Daviess County Residents, News 44 April 27, 2023

Fiscal Court Budget Would Eliminate RiverPark Center Funding Owensboro Messenger Inquirer, April 20, 2023

Proposed County Budget Reduces Funds to EDC. “Daviess Fiscal Court’s proposed budget for 2023-24 would reduce the county’s allocation to the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. by $144,000.” Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, May 30, 2023

Fiscal Court Proposes Eliminating Funding for RiverPark Center, Drastically Lowering EDC Allocation, The Owensboro Times, April 20, 2023

City Officials Oppose Defunding RiverPark, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, February 24, 2023

Protecting Kids from Pornography in the Children’s Section

Save Our Community’s Reputation Petition