Letters to the Editor: JD Vance is not good for Appalachia. Readers defend police.

Vance ‘toxic’

I’m from Whitesburg, in Eastern Kentucky. I love the area and the mountains and, yes, I’m protective of it, its culture and the people. It’s a beautiful place, rich in history, home to great personages and artists. In my own hometown we’ve sent gifted writers, musicians, business people, and political figures to the nation.

That’s why I find venture capitalist and writer JD Vance, now a Senate candidate in Ohio, offensive.

JD Vance is a fake “hillbilly” (his term), someone who appropriated and distorted Appalachia and its culture to fit a negative stereotype in “Hillbilly Elegy” — then profited from it. His own dysfunctional family portrayal is individual, not universal, one that can be set in any location; for instance in Vance’s real hometown, Middletown, Ohio. It is certainly not the norm in Appalachia.

Vance is that summer visitor from Ohio a lot of Eastern Kentuckians have experienced, a visitor who came to tell us how things were done better elsewhere. Vance is one who gained nothing from the experience of the visit because of his unmerited superiority complex.

Vance’s toxic mix of arrogance and ignorance does injury to Appalachia. It’s a character flaw that disqualifies him as a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Bill Adkins, Williamstown

‘Hillbilly’ column

When Herald-Leader op-ed columnist Larry Webster is told, “Those words hurt my feelings,” he hears, “Your feelings don’t matter.” How does a self-proclaimed satirist, a master manipulator of words, not realize those are two different things?

Of course “hillbillies” are treated terribly and jokes mocking poor, rural people aren’t “okay”. In fact, there are communities of activists who fight against that sort of mockery, such as the “Trillbilly Workers Party” podcast, and various writers I’ve talked to inside and around Appalachia. Hell, just mention JD Vance at a public library and you’ll find plenty of people to commiserate with.

Seriously, Webster has some great points about reality TV profiting off of “hillbilly” exploitation. But it’s not LGBTQ, BIPOC, or otherwise “woke” mobs that are the problem: It’s corporate America.

So if Webster is willing to join the fight against billionaires and anti-democratic lobbies, there are plenty of groups who’d love to have him. Support (either financially or through activism) the most progressive candidates he can (like Charles Booker in 2022!)

But if Webster is just going to play victim and pick fights with other oppressed groups, he should reflect on what he’s doing and reconsider who, exactly, is the villain in this narrative.

Bronson O’Quinn, Lexington

Op-ed damaging

I have read several times a recent piece by Herald-Leader Opinion columnist Linda Blackford. My first thought after reading the piece was that Ms. Blackford’s attack dog instinct broke loose. The barking and biting she unleashed on our community will prove more harmful than all the words already spoken in regards to this matter.

I can only assume she had framed in her mind the content of an op-ed before considering Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers’ observations. Her brief mention of Chief Weathers is a clear indication that she either missed, failed to understand, or did not care that he was offering a solid foundation for a thoughtful and precision approach to altering the trajectory of this issue.

The community would have been far better served if the piece explored the facts without Ms. Blackford’s raging, fear-mongering emotions. Ms. Blackford missed an opportunity to apply a calm journalistic argument to objectively unpack an issue that is problematic. She failed to adhere to a commonsense rule to avoid making a bad situation worse.

Ron McBride, Nicholasville

Police ‘good guys’

Herald-Leader Opinion columnist Linda Blackford, in the proud liberal tradition of newspaper columnists Merlene Davis, Tom Eblen and many others, criticizes Lexington’s Fraternal Order of Police Bluegrass Lodge 4 and labels it a threat to Black women in our city. I guess she was asleep all last summer as Black Lives Matter agitators ransacked businesses and assaulted police officers in Portland, Minneapolis, and other cities. Ms. Blackford, those were dangerous entities, not the FOP. They are simply trying to hang on to the tools they need to stop crime. Ms. Blackford needs to get her facts straight: Police are the good guys, people who break windows, assault officers and rob are the bad guys. And maybe she can review the video file of foul language used against officers on many disturbance calls in Lexington and Louisville last summer. FOP, the majority of Lexington supports you.

John Mackey, Lexington

Purely partisan

As a lifelong Democrat and former officer of said party until two years ago, I eagerly read the recent Herald-Leader opinion piece by Colmon Elridge, chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party, thinking there might be some return of civility and honesty to the party’s platform. I was most disappointed. Credit only was given to the Democrat Party while tearing down anything that the opposing party might have been responsible for accomplishing.

Taking credit for accomplishments where credit is not due seems to be a “sin” of both major parties. Telling “part of the story (i.e. platform)” of the other party is constant and does not serve well the people of Kentucky or our nation. The op-ed can only promote the divisiveness of our people. For what reason? For the march toward complete power?

Judy Yount Lyons, Lexington

Shifting blame

In the words of Carl Spackler, preeminent caddy, “I have to laugh”. Indeed, after reading Marc Thiessen’s opinion that President Joe Biden should acknowledge that Donald Trump was singularly responsible for the COVID-19 vaccine. This needs to be done, according to Mr. Thiessen, to convince his followers to take the vaccine. OK. Fine. Give Donald Trump credit. But then ask yourself, why didn’t the devotees take the vaccine as soon as it was released? Why wasn’t there a sea of red hats and Confederate flags at each and every vaccination station? What better way for supporters to show their support, than to publicly get the shot and proclaim “Thank you, Mr. President”? I’ll tell you why not. Once again we see the Republicans absolving themselves of personal responsibility and trying to convince us that somebody or something else kept them from doing the right thing. Then, of course, there’s the man himself who may have been in part responsible for delivering a life saving vaccine, but proceeded to squander each and every opportunity to rally the country behind a cohesive and consistent plan for defeating the virus. Yeah, Spackler had to laugh. Me? I want to scream.

Ross DeAeth, Lexington

More excuses

Columnist Marc Thiessen is full of beans, as always. He has spent the last five years or more attacking Democrats and making excuses for detestable Republicans, including Donald Trump. In his opinion piece in the July 9 Herald-Leader, he wants us all to give Trump credit for Operation Warp Speed. Perhaps that was a good program, but nothing could make up for the initial response of our former “leader” to the threat of COVID-19, which Thiessen fails to address.

There was nothing speedy about Trump’s reaction. For months, he ignored the seriousness of the crisis, then lied to the American people, even after he had been informed of the grave situation: He told us it was no different from the flu and that one day, the whole thing would simply disappear. While he was having fun on the golf course with his head in the sand, thousands of people needlessly died. He further misled us by politicizing mask wearing. In a nutshell, Trump is personally responsible for the deaths of our fellow citizens.

Michael Worley, Lexington

Statehood for D.C.

No taxation without representation is one of the key reasons why America fought for its independence. So why do we continue to tax Washington, D.C. residents without giving them proper representation in Congress.

The population of D.C. is comparable to the populations of states like Alaska, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Vermont. Those states get two senators apiece and a voting House member to advocate for their needs. But because of its status as a district, D.C. has no senators and its one House representative is prevented from voting. Yet, district residents live, work, serve in the military and on juries — and yes, pay federal taxes.

Denying hundreds of thousands of Americans a voice in our democracy goes against what this country claims it stands for. But we can easily change this by making Washington, D.C. the 51st state. Statehood for the district can become a reality by making its way through Congress like any other bill — and that bill has already passed the House.

Adding D.C. as the 51st state would be a huge win in giving full congressional representation to hundreds of thousands of Americans. I’m urging my senators and my community to support D.C. statehood.

Morgan Salyer, Lexington

Teach truth

It’s not teaching history if it is not the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It is teaching a lie and political propaganda designed to control popular opinion for ends that benefit only a chosen few. It is an act of fascism to attempt to control the historical narrative for political advantage. History should not be a singular narrative of one culture over another. History is everyone’s story; not merely the self-proclaimed and dominant conquerors.

We are advanced enough to evade the axiom that history is written by the victors. We as humanity can advance past this, but it is made more difficult by those who will not admit the travesties of the past and deny them in order to elevate themselves above others. In essence that is what the spirit of fascism is. It is a subscription to the lie that anyone is superior to anyone else and therefore more deserving to be the enslaved or be the slaver.

We will doom humanity if we don’t advance past these failed notions of dominance and submission. These notions only advance our collective demise, because in the end we can only proceed together in unity or end in separation alone.

Robert Moreland, Lexington

No close-ups!

I think there would have been more people willing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 if the local TV news programs had not shown so many images of needles going in arms. Some close-ups showed the skin offering resistance to the needle which would make many people squeamish, especially young people. Every night for the last month this has been shown five or six times. I can imagine teenagers seeing that and saying, “They are not doing that to me”.

Joseph E. Long, Lexington

Pett ‘childish’

Over the years I have looked at and read the ridiculous “cartoons” published in the Herald-Leader by Joel Pett. The newspaper must love him; after all, he is consistently ultra-liberal and avoids the truth like the plague. I suppose someone took his bouncy ball away from him at an early age, thus explaining his immature and childish work. Objective he is not. Oh well, I’m sure he has job security with the media.

Darrell Cook, Richmond