This Disunion piece on John C. Breckinridge was somewhat more charitable than I would have been for a man who more than almost anyone embraced committing treason to defend slavery. I thought there was nothing, nothing at all that could redeem the man in my eyes. But then I saw this late life picture of the man, sporting one of the single greatest mustaches in history, a feat impressive even for the Gilded Age.
I mean, holy hell, that thing extends to his shoulders!
So, the College of Arts and Sciences at my beloved institution has decided that students require visual aids in order to find their departmental website. On the one hand, it’s kind of cool; the department name lights up when the mouse scrolls over, etc. On the other hand, I gotta wonder how they came up with some of the pics. Dark Side of the Moon for Physics? Globes for both History and Environmental Science? And I’m flummoxed as to what the difference between Social Theory and Sociology is supposed to be…
Media Czech moves on to bigger and better things. Let’s hope that Barefoot and Progressive continues to shake things up while under new management.
Also, LGM always makes money for its partners.
Good catch by Media Czech on the consequences of anti-government speech. Turns out that some forms of violent radical extremism are more equal than others…
People throw around the terms like “mortal lock” and “guaranteed return” all the time, but let’s just say that it would be extremely wise to riskinvest your 401K on the following trifecta:
1. Dialed In
2. Stay Thirsty
3. Shackleford
Feel free to enjoy a mint julep during the race, but I cannot recommend either a Hot Brown or Derby Pie. While both include so many wonderful ingredients that it’s hard to imagine not liking them, I’ve yet to have a serving of either that justified my affection.
This is no good:
Toyota said Monday it is inevitable the company will be forced to shut down all of its North American factories — including its largest, in Georgetown — because of parts shortages due to the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan. But the company later countered The Associated Press’s report, noting it has not changed its stance on the “likely” nature of production interruptions.
Toyota spokesman Mike Goss told the AP in Louisville on Monday that the temporary shutdowns are likely to take place later this month, affecting 25,000 workers.
No workers would be laid off, Rick Hesterberg, spokesman for the Georgetown plant, told the Herald-Leader. They would be given three options, as they have during previous work stoppages: take paid vacation; take unpaid time off; or work a normal shift focusing on general maintenance, training or process improvement instead of the traditional assembly work.
Just how long shutdowns last or whether all 13 of Toyota’s North American factories will be affected at the same time is unknown and depends on when parts production can restart in Japan, Goss told the AP.
Toyota later stressed that the company continues “to assess our supply base in Japan.”
Obviously, this isn’t great for the workers at the Georgetown plant, but it’s indicative of how the modern international industrial economy functions. With the gigantic exception of allowing unionization, Toyota fortunately tends to pursue worker friendly policies. Toyota is enormously popular in Kentucky, and not just for the excellent sushi restaurants it’s brought to Lexington and environs. I toured the Georgetown plant last year with the new crop of Patterson students, and can say that the experience of visiting a giant, modern industrial facility is genuinely awe-inspiring.
I will grant that there’s a certain courage in a Kentucky Senator lauding Cassius Marcellus Clay over Henry Clay:
“As long as I sit at Henry Clay’s desk, I will remember his lifelong desire to forge agreement, but I will also keep close to my heart the principled stand of his cousin Cassius who refused to forsake the life of any human simply to find agreement,” Paul said.
Paul criticized one of the most famous Kentucky politicians, Henry Clay, who at one point occupied Paul’s chosen desk in the Senate. Instead of emulating the Kentucky senator known as the “great compromiser,” Paul praised his cousin, abolitionist Cassius Clay, who was attacked politically and physically for sticking to his principles.
“Today we have no issues that approach moral equivalency with the issue of slavery. Yet we do face a fiscal nightmare and potentially a debt crisis,” said Paul. “Is the answer to compromise? Should we compromise by raising taxes and cutting spending as the Debt Commission proposes? Is that the compromise that will save us from financial ruin?”
Also grudging kudos for not embracing the slavery-abortion metaphor. It would be nice if Paul provided an opening for doing something like replacing the statue of the reprehensible John C. Breckinridge at the old Lexington courthouse and replacing it with Cassius Clay. I plan to do a bit more blogging later on Paul’s foreign and defense policy statements, which are somewhat interesting.
And there’ll be dinosaurs.
Full conference here. Tragically, the wife has forbidden me to take the girls to the Creation Museum or the new Creation theme park between the ages of two and sixteen, so I’ll just have to wait…
I think maybe probably Rand Paul should have just carried out his threat not to debate Jack Conway again:
A MoveOn.org activist apparently trying to get close to U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul on Monday was shoved to the ground by supporters of Paul and stomped on, according to a video of the incident.
The video, taken by WDRB-TV in Louisville, shows a man wearing a Rand Paul sticker stomping on the woman’s shoulder and head.
Fortunately, the activist seems to be fine. It remains to be seen, however, whether Paul can lose the race in the next few days.
…and our answer to that question is: Probably not.
Dems smell blood in the Bluegrass…
LAWRENCEBURG – Former President Bill Clinton will return to Kentucky a day before the Nov. 2 election to campaign for Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jack Conway.
Conway campaign spokeswoman Allison Haley confirmed Thursday that Clinton will visit the state Nov. 1 for Conway. She said the locations of Clinton’s appearances have not been finalized.
There was a bit of a fracas last night in Louisville:
Whatever was left of the gloves in the heated Kentucky Senate race came off tonight. In a televised debate from the University of Louisville, Republican nominee Rand Paul lashed out at his Democratic opponent, Jack Conway — even refusing to shake his hand at the end of the debate — saying to Conway at one point “you demean the state of Kentucky.”
For his part, Conway was not afraid to climb down into the muck and take Paul on. He accused Paul of “joining a group known for mocking Christianity” while the Republican was a student at Baylor University and called on Paul to explain why he once “tied a woman up and asked her to worship a false idol.”
Conway clearly had the line of the night (via Joe Sonka):
As Attorney General of Kentucky, I’m always amused to get a lecture in constitutional law from a self-certified ophthalmologist
Media Czech also has some video highlights.
Congrats to Mr. Media Czech on the Maddow shout out!
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Paul Campos, Above the Law 2011 Lawyer of the Year
Erik Loomis, HNN Cliopatria 2011 Best Series of Posts
