Letters: ‘Bamboozled.’ Matt Bevin, KY legislators got played badly on aluminum plant
State was played
Many Kentuckians are country music fans, and many have become country stars with chart-topping hits. Yet former Gov. Matt Bevin and many Kentucky Senate and House members must never have heard George Strait’s “Oceanfront Property in Arizona” before being duped into giving then-named Braidy Industries $15 million of our tax dollars to help build an aluminum mill in Ashland. State Sen. Chris McDaniel said, “We were played for fools.” Yes, they were scammed, bamboozled.
Braidy is now Unity Aluminum and has a new CEO since the previous one was fired for allegedly spending $130,000 on travel and housing. The new CEO? Terry Gill, Bevin’s secretary of economic development who advocated for the state’s $15 million payment.
Maybe now is the time for our elected officials to listen to Strait’s song. Better yet, they should heed the words of George C. Parker: “If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell to you.”
Douglas A. Boyd, Lexington
This is us
1. Gov. Andy Beshear is like the old-time elder surgeon who treated his patients like children; arrogant and condescending. It’s time to get rid of the podium and start tending to real state government business. We get it governor, move on.
2. Our U.S. borders in Texas are now a joke as far as security, vetting, and disease entry. President Joe Biden has no clue what to do and Vice President Kamala Harris perked up only when she thought a Haitian was whipped by a horseback border agent. Story was false, but she doesn’t seem to care.
3. The new normal: “Worker Needed” signs everywhere and able bodied people collecting unemployment at home.
J.D. Mackey, Lexington
Total hypocrisy
It behooves me to see the Republicans in action. I mean, how hypocritical can you get? On one hand they are gung-ho against having abortions. But the Republicans, Sen. Rand Paul and a pastor at Southland Christian Church are all about people dying by not wearing masks and getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Then we have Rand Paul beating his chest claiming he is immune from the coronavirus. I have news for him: God can give the stuff to anyone He likes at any time He wants. Folks, I am afraid this thing is not over by a long shot. So, I would be careful what I say when it comes to the coronavirus.
So, are we exaggerating the novelty of about 700,000 people dying from coronavirus? Now, how laughable is it to see almost 700,000 die from this stuff? I wonder if the Republicans are ever going to be team players, or do they like playing to their base by having people dying. Maybe we could put an end to this laughable disease if everybody would just follow the guidelines that the Democratic Party put out.
Victor Privett, Nicholasville
Insist on vaccines
To prevent further spread of the coronavirus, we should require everyone to get fully vaccinated, (including a possible third dose), unless exempted by a sincerely held religious belief or medical condition. We should write to our legislators and executives at all levels of government.
Alvin Blake, Lexington