Letters to the Editor: Praise for county clerk, poll workers and KY voting plan
Poll workers, take a bow
Fayette County Clerk’s office and all the election workers take a bow. Despite the difficulties the pandemic presented, they made our voting experience smooth. With the number of people who were in front of me, under our old system it would’ve taken almost an hour to vote versus the under 15 minutes this time. The new system with the number of tables cut the time substantially.
We must also realize the controversy going on now has had value. It’s been a great civics lesson in how our method of choosing our governance works.
It’s also made this election the most transparent in my lifetime. Possibly in our country’s history.
Because we’ve been seeing how painstakingly those who are charged with tabulation and certifying our elections are, we really owe them a debt of gratitude. We need to take the time to acknowledge the work everyone involved has done to make our state’s election process a success. Everyone from our Democrat Governor, Republican Secretary of State, individual County Clerks’ offices, bipartisan poll workers and tabulation teams, and everyone who voted for voting and staying civil. THANK YOU!
May this year’s election serve as a reminder, lesson, in how well bipartisanship works.
Robin Osgood, Lexington
Paul wrong
As Kentucky had its deadliest month in the COVID-19 pandemic and our hospitals started to fill, the Herald Leader propagated Sen. Rand Paul’s erroneous claim that prior COVID-19 infection confers immunity, and also published all of Paul’s inane ideas that propagate from these false claims. On the same day, a study out of the Imperial College London confirmed what we’ve already been seeing clinically: COVID-19 re-infection happens, and the level and duration of immunity to COVID-19 is unknown.
Dr. Anthony Fauci must regularly refute Paul’s unfounded and dangerous comments. Can we stop providing a stage for Paul’s inanity? Please? It only adds to the confusion and costs lives.
Clifford Kaye, Lexington
Wrong way
Despite scientific evidence to the contrary, President Donald Trump continues to say “we have rounded the corner “ on the COVID-19 pandemic.
He’s right. We have rounded the corner. Unfortunately, we have turned left instead of right.
Please follow the Centers for Disease Control recommendations and wear a mask, social distance, and wash your hands. Maybe then we will round the corner in the right direction.
Margaret Thompson, Lexington
Magical thinking
President Donald Trump says we need to do less testing for COVID-19. If we did less testing, he says, we would have fewer cases. The number of cases are there whether we count them or not. And the more testing we do, the more we know what is going on, the more tracking we can do, the more quarantining of people who are exposed to the virus, and the more precautions we can take. Trump just wants our statistics to look better compared to those of other countries and then he will not look so bad at handling the crisis in our country. This isn’t a contest of who has fewer cases. It is a pandemic that we must fight with all our might
People who rebel about wearing masks say it’s their civil “right” to choose not to wear masks. I wonder why this is such an issue when lives are at stake. When a restaurant has a sign: “No shirt, no shoes — no service”, they conform. When the state says they must have car liability insurance to drive a car, they conform or suffer penalties and even lose their license if they are in an accident. Why is this such an issue that they are willing to risk their family’s, friends’, and their own health and even death by not wearing a mask?
Bonnie Laudan, Lexington
Be wary, Cat fans
The diehard Wildcat fans are getting ready for another basketball season, availed by Coach John Calipari with another group of top five freshmen, most of whom will be forgotten at this time next year. As usual, they will be ranked as one of the top teams in America, breeze through the season, winning the SEC only to blow another year when it comes to the big games.
Coach Cal has been at the helm for over 10 years, winning only one national championship with always the best talent in the country. That was in 2012 and the team led by Anthony Davis and company, who could have won the championship even if Coach Cal did not show up for the game. Then you come to the 2015 season, when he had two complete teams, one as good as the other, both championship quality. He talked of going with a two platoon system, which was foolish from the start. However, they did not win the national title, probably because he did show up for the game.
So get ready, Wildcat fans, for another rollercoaster ride during the upcoming season, but be ready for a hard landing when it jumps the track at the end, and I can assure you it will.
Donald R. Curtis, Nicholasville
Grateful for leadership
Gov. Andy Beshear and Kentucky Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack both carry a great burden in wrestling Kentucky’s COVID-19 pandemic. That they do it with such intelligence, clarity, and compassion is a gift to the citizens of Kentucky. These are troubled and chaotic times, locally, nationally, and globally; times in which critical leaders fail to model the kind of behavior that strengthens our populace. In this context, their ability to to address all of us with honesty, to acknowledge our shared humanity and the preciousness of life (with poetry, even!) does our heart good, even when it brings tears.
Who would ever ask to lead through a pandemic? But here they are. We wish them strength and thank them for theirLeslie Hurst. Know that it makes a difference.
Linda Angelo, Lexington
Keep going!
A Herald-Leader article by writer Josh Moore told the story of Bardstown native 68-year-old Leslie Hurst, holder of a current streak of 47 years of attendance at every Kentucky home football game starting in 1973 with the opening of Commonwealth Stadium.
Hopefully Mr. Hurst has made it to UK’s home games so far this year, and is able to attend UK’s remaining home games of this bizarre college football season.
Go! Go Big Blue Leslie! I am pulling for you to reach at least the Big 50! Since the mid-1950s, my wife, Pat, and I have had several UK football streaks, all now ended. It would be great to meet and compare stories.
Don and Pat Dampier, Georgetown
We want this?
There is a saying that for a woman to succeed she has to be twice as good as a man; that might also be said about Democrats and Republicans. President Barack Obama tried to give people a good, basic healthcare program, expand civil rights, enact student loan debt reform, begin climate change mitigation: The list goes on and on. The Republicans want to take away healthcare including the mandate on preexisting conditions, give all rights and legal benefits to corporations, eliminate or repeal environmental protections going back to the 1950s, provide tax breaks to the corporations and the wealthy, and sell off logging, mining, and drilling rights in our national treasures (national parks and monuments) to the highest bidder. The Obama administration had no scandals while President Donald Trump’s administration had over 200. Obama prided himself on logic and reason and truth telling, while Trump promotes fantasies and conspiracy theories while telling thousands of lies. And yet after four years of this craziness, some 67 million (or 48%) of Americans have decided that this is exactly what they want. This is insanity. There is a saying that a people gets the government it deserves, and there is no reason to think that is not true of America as well.
James R. Porter, Danville
OWM win
Points learned from this year’s election: The old white men won, communities have lost all respect for law enforcement and the judicial system due to their motto “to protect and serve” only certain people, and people no longer respect faith leaders and churches who con the downtrodden to give more and more of their meager wages to them. After being in a church structure for over 65 years, I have finally come to the realization that there really isn’t a god. Oh, did I mention that the old white men won — again.
Jim Dunn, Burgin
Enough with ads
Is there anyone in central Kentucky who is not grateful to have the deluge of political ads cease?
I was on vacation in Siesta Key, Florida, in February and an advertisement came on the television. I immediately recognized Democratic senatorial candidate Amy McGrath’s voice. It was an ad raising money for her attempted election. It struck me as incredibly unfair, but also as a ridiculous waste of money. Why not a fundraiser for Kentucky education, COVID-19 relief, food, or healthcare for Kentucky?
What I could not have known at the time was the magnitude of the absolute waste of $100 million so that we could all be battered with ridiculous ads for months to absolutely no effect politically. Maybe there is some logic in this, but I can’t see it. I am sure that South Carolina and many other parts of the country who suffered this media onslaught have many and likely a majority of people who share my feelings.
Artie Henderson, Lexington