‘Hands Off’ protests in Lexington part of general Democratic hypocrisy | Opinion

Protest coverage

I read the coverage recently about the “Hands Off” protests. What are these people protesting? Fraud? Waste? Do they really believe their Medicare and SS is being taken? Have they gone to doge.net to read anything?

Specifics are lacking on their part, as usual, trumped by rhetoric out of Democrats and the media. These same people thought Elon Musk was a god when he was saving the planet with his toxic, battery-powered cars. Now they are selling them, giving them away, and vandalizing those that own them. Burning them. Burning charging stations. Are they really that low intelligence or that easily persuadable to shift to their new religion?

And why is it the left is always doing the burning and vandalizing?

Why were U.S. Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Cal., U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and former President Barack Obama all in on tariffs but never did anything? And now they are silent?

Why is it the people of Nantucket just SUED the administration claiming the Biden mandate on windmills along their coast was illegal? Greenies suing greenies for “not in my back yard.”

You cannot report on this “demonstration” without highlighting the ever-shifting hypocrisy.

Dallen Wendt, Nicholasville

Hands Off

Over 2,500 people gathered at the state capitol in the pouring rain recently to protest the current administration and its policies. Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance, a grassroots group from Lexington that was formed only days after the inauguration, brought the largest contingent and the most energy to the Frankfort event.

At least 1,500 people gathered at the Lexington courthouse the same day for a rally and protest that stretched along Limestone from Main St. to Barr. There were drums, speakers, music, chants, signs, and a multitude of people in the courthouse square for 2 hours.

I think there’s probably a story there somewhere, don’t you? The Herald-Leader did not cover the anti-Trump rallies as news. Instead, it published an opinion piece, as though the 1,500 local residents who gathered in front of our city’s center of justice for 2 hours singing and chanting and waving signs can be dismissed as something less than fact.

Maybe the real story is why our local media didn’t cover the protests. It may take an investigative journalist to find out why.

On another note, kudos to The Rambler, Transylvania University’s student newspaper, for its excellent coverage of the Lexington rally.

Tomi Ross, Lexington

Tax tips

The proposal to make tips non-taxable HURTS low-income taxpayers.

I did free taxes with AARP for years and found that low-income people NEED THE TAXABLE INCOME to qualify for the Earned Income Credit. The EIC starts at zero with no taxable income and increases to an over $8,000 tax credit at about $15,000 of taxable income. It decreases to zero at about $45,000 taxable income. Reducing taxable income for people under $45,000 REDUCES THEIR REFUND. Meanwhile, it will reduce taxes for those over $45,000 taxable income who claim tips. It opens a big opportunity for fraud for those who claim “tips” for what should be ordinary income.

Bruce Gordon, Georgetown

A Different America

I grew up proud of American justice as a model for the world, one where people were treated fairly, where a foundational principle was that it was better to let a few guilty people go free than to punish one innocent person by mistake.

When the current administration took charge, that sacred concept of justice was swiftly inverted. From the top down, President Donald Trump has convinced his agents that it is fine to round up as many innocent people as necessary, as long as anyone who might possibly be guilty is punished, often without due process. “I don’t care what the judges think,” said Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar.

Consider the many horror stories: legal U.S. residents and visitors are wrongly rounded up in the name of “securing our borders;” legal green card holders are grabbed off the streets; ordinary travelers are stripped of their belongings, shackled and imprisoned incommunicado; some are shipped off to other countries and dropped into an abyss of medieval treatment where they are out of sight and forgotten.

We no longer live in the same country we did just last year.

Arthur LaBar, Richmond

Mitch’s exit

An open letter to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.: As you prepare for your farewell to the Senate, you never fail to disappoint. When you were in a leadership role and had the power and opportunity to achieve great results, you chose party over country and ego over integrity. You played loose with U.S. Supreme Court nominees. For Merritt Garland, nominated by President Barack Obama, it was too close to the election for a hearing. When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg died, the replacement process began before the ink was dry on the death certificate. The Supreme Court was packed with conservative justices who would eventually give President Donald Trump an easy pass and now we have a felon as president. When the Senate voted against impeachment for the January 6th insurrection, you stated that Trump was responsible, but did not have the courage to do the right thing. You lead your caucus to oppose proposals from Democratic presidents, even if they would benefit the country.

Now, as you prepare to leave, you speak freely. It’s too little too late. You could have been a statesman and achieved greatness. Regrettably you were consumed with power and neglected your duty to the Commonwealth and the country.

Cheryl Keenan, Lexington

Penguin Lessons

There is a film out now – The Penguin Lessons – that you must see, because it is relevant to the crisis that faces our country.

The story is set in Argentina some 40 years ago during the “dirty war,” where the military junta snatches 30,000 people from the streets. They become “the “disappeared” who are never heard from again. Many were thrown from military aircraft into the ocean.

President Donald Trump is as evil as the Argentinian junta. His administration (already infamous for kidnapping babies from their mothers) recently snatched more than 200 people and destroyed their lives by sending them to an El Salvador gulag. There was no due process or even charges of crimes. Fortunately, Trump is constrained because no part of our military would follow his orders to shove dissenters out of aircraft to die in an ocean.

I know about this barbarism firsthand: I became close to a woman professor who fled the dirty war and came to teach at the University of Kentucky. After classes ended, she went back to Argentina to visit her mother. Shortly after, I got a call from her saying the junta was watching her house, two of her colleagues had been abducted, and asking if she could come back to Lexington and stay with me. We ended up married and having a son, now age 40.

Do you think democracy can’t end in the USA? If so, you are sleepwalking into a vicious autocracy!

Michael Kennedy, Lexington

Energy production

President Donald Trump has made clear that strengthening domestic energy production is a pivotal part of his agenda. Congress can help the president “unleash American energy” by incentivizing the capture of coal mine methane (CMM) and strengthening Kentucky’s coal industry.

Capturing CMM repurposes a gas for energy generation that would otherwise be wasted. Expanding CMM capture will create jobs, strengthen the coal industry, and generate economic growth in Kentucky and across Appalachia. With fewer than 2 percent of coal mines capturing waste methane, the potential for expansion is significant—to the tune of thousands of jobs and more than $1 billion in state and local revenues throughout Appalachia.

Legislation expanding section 45Q will help scale CMM capture practices across the U.S. and boost the economies of rural coal communities. Much like it has powered progress for carbon capture innovation, this tax credit can be powerful for the coal industry’s future. Congress should build on its success to boost domestic coal competitiveness and ensure coal remains a key player in America’s energy mix.

As President Donald Trump pushes for American energy dominance, leaders like Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., must act. Strengthening 45Q will support Kentucky coal jobs, grow Appalachia’s economy, and reinforce America’s energy security.

Mike Moore, Exec Dir., Waste Gas Capture Initiative, Washington, D.C.

Edited by Liz Carey