Letters to the Editor: Roe v. Wade, political systems, Trump’s endorses AG Cameron

Stripping rights

President Lyndon Baines Johnson said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” Just insert LGBTQ or immigrant and follow the money.

The last refuge of the bigot is the ability to discriminate against LGBTQ. It’s the bigot’s last stand. They can’t say the “N” word; they failed to build a wall; they can’t call a Jew or Catholic or Muslim their favorite negative terms - but they can still point to LGBTQ and attack because of sexual orientation or gender identity. Make no mistake, those bigots are cowards.

With the recent Supreme Court decision stripping women of the right to abortion, effectively relegating them to forced incubator status, some states are diligently codifying Jim Crow-like laws, awaiting the trigger of a decision like Roe. The right to privacy, the right of same sex marriage and interracial marriage –all of those are on the table. A court that can take away the right to abortion can strip you of your rights.

Be angry. Remember this when you vote in November.

Bill Adkins, Williamstown

Dark days

These are dark days in our country.

Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions defy law and logic. Thanks to the court’s rulings, women are denied reproductive rights, e.g., control over their bodies; and children and adults are now more likely to be slaughtered in schools or public spaces.

Former President Donald Trump’s newly appointed and extremely conservative Supreme Court Justices seem blind to the injustice visited on the “already born” children (and adults) being slaughtered as evidenced by the latest ruling on denying states the right to implement gun restrictions.

Then there’s Trump himself, and most Republicans, who nearly destroyed our democracy after the 2020 election, and continue to undermine democracy and trust in the electoral process today! The shocking Jan. 6 hearings show how close we came to losing our right to free and fair elections.

Republicans and conservative extremists are hypocrites. States now cannot pass laws restricting guns, but states can enact laws that ban abortions.

What’s the solution? Vote Republicans out of office. Vote for Democrats, who will restore sanity and safety, and women’s rights, and enact laws to help protect us from this epidemic of violence by emotionally disturbed 18-year-old men with hand-guns or military assault rifles.

Elizabeth Wallen, Springfield

Stepping back

This Independence Day marks a sad step backwards for our secular nation. A recent slate of rulings from our Supreme Court have eroded the wall of separation between church and state, which our founders constructed nearly 250 years ago.

In the past month, the high court has ruled in support of tax dollars for religious schools, prayers during football games, and against a woman’s right to choose whether to continue her pregnancy.

This religious-leaning court and its rulings do not reflect the direction of our nation where nearly one-in-three Americans now identify as having “no religion” according to Pew Research. In Jefferson County, 25 percent of residents now identify as religiously unaffiliated, according to PRRI Research.

I am proud to count myself as among the more than 75 million secular Americans who are not religious. And I am proud to be a member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), fighting to protect our “sacred” separation of church and state.

This Independence Day weekend, let’s reaffirm our commitment to keep religion out of government. Because there is no freedom of religion without a government that is free from religion.

Edwin Hensley, Louisville

Trump endorsement

Dear Attorney General Daniel Cameron, are you still honored and humbled to be endorsed by former President Donald Trump? After all that we have learned recently about him, and your failure to disavow him, you, sir, have no honor and I am forced to conclude that you are either an extremist or that you will literally do anything to gain a higher office.

Michael Griffin, Lexington

Hard support

What a challenging conundrum former President Donald Trump presents Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron with his offer of backing and support. Does Cameron, holding such a high legal office in our state, really want to be associated with this petty, revengeful, and dangerous man?

If one didn’t already know the lengths Trump will go to retain power and influence, everyone now knows as the Jan. 6 hearings unfold. Trump’s utter disregard for the law, the truth, the history of our democracy, and common decency seem bottomless. Yet, the base seems unmoved.

As Cameron weighs his options, does he decline Trump’s support, or does he assume Trump’s Kentucky base doesn’t care if Trump is a danger to the nation and make a deal with the devil? I hope he does the right thing, but he clearly has found himself between the proverbial rock and a very hard place.

Janice Russell, Lexington

Gubernatorial race

Send in the clowns - in this case Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron entering the Governor’s race with his usual flair. As irrefutable evidence mounts of Trump’s intent to undermine the Constitution, the democratic electoral process and rule of law, Cameron- an attorney and law enforcement officer- seeks and accepts the endorsement of the criminal-minded Trump. Cameron is unfit for any office of public trust.

Buck Hinkle, Lexington

Justices’ answers

In September 2021, then Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett stated that decisions of the high court aren’t driven by political views and that her colleagues on the court are not a “bunch of partisan hacks.”

Neil Gorsuch told senators in his March 2017 confirmation hearings that Roe was “a precedent of the U.S. Supreme Court” that has been reaffirmed.

Brett Kavanaugh told senators in his September 2018 confirmation hearings that he respected the precedent of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling. He stated that Roe was “settled as a precedent of the Supreme Court, entitled the respect under the principles of stare decisis,” a legal doctrine that means “to stand by things decided,” and a fundamental principle of our legal system for over 200 years.

Is there any doubt why a clear majority of Americans question the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, fueled by the push from Republicans to block a nominee of President Barack Obama and then to name a justice in the final months of President Donald Trump’s term?

Michael Grossman, Lexington

Children’s lives

As I listen to and read the comments and chants of those who are in jubilation over the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade, I am called to ask why they do not fight for the “right to life” for the children who have already been delivered into this world.

Why do they not rally for adequate staffing of social workers to investigate abuse and neglect reports? Why are they not chanting to increase funding for public education, the only hope to pull children out of poverty? Where are their voices when school funding is not made a priority at the state level? Where is their outrage over teacher shortages and pay that is woefully inadequate to retain the best talent in Kentucky’s classrooms? Who is marching to improve foster care?

I have dedicated my adult life to public education spending my own money for clothing, coats and shoes for students, for school supplies parents can’t or won’t provide, for Prom dresses - the list goes on. There is great fervor to give every fertilized egg a right to life, but will it transcend into action to help children live?

Kristi Jenkins, Somerset

Expanded Court

To protect our reproductive freedoms, we need to expand the Supreme Court.

The Judiciary Act of 2021 would add four new seats to the Supreme Court, bringing the number of justices to 13. It would help restore balance to a Court that U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has packed with right-wing extremists who just dismantled abortion care in America.

Recent polling showed that not only do a majority of Americans believe that the Supreme Court should uphold the right to abortion care, they also agree that we need to restore balance to the court and support adding additional judges to the Supreme Court.

I’m urging Congress to pass the Judiciary Act so we can create an institution that moves away from partisan politics and represents the good of all Americans.

Alicia Cox, Lexington

Working system

Poor Linda Blackford. She hates U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell as much as Joel Pett hates President Donald Trump. Her column is full of sophomoric phrases such as “hellish theocracy he has unleashed,” “tsunamis of money…corrupted our legislative process so completely,” “stacked the court with right wing activists,” and many more.

I can’t believe McConnell “ushered” in the decision, but if he did: good job. He is also an eminent Republican statesman and led the Republicans through 3 U.S. Supreme Court confirmations. A great achievement, something U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer is incapable of doing.

As for Blackford’s “terrible day in America”, she is doubtless unaware that the United States is a republic with states’ rights. Unlike her dire prediction of dark alley abortions, each state will vote on what they believe is the correct course for that state. If the voter disagrees there will be new legislators and new laws. This is our system. It has worked well for hundreds of years and is why our system has been very successful, much to the chagrin of Marxist’s such as Blackford whose goal appears to be to destroy our country and replace it with a United Soviet.

Ken Fishel, Lexington

Government actions

I don’t respond to surveys. Most of the surveys I receive are biased, and though I may agree with the views or concerns, I have no interest in biased surveys, and I discard them.

I am, however, interested in the results of unbiased surveys, such as the 2021 survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, which found that nearly half of the adults surveyed cannot identify the three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. When I surveyed college freshmen, hardly any student was able to fill in an organizational chart showing how our democracy works.

I hope that today’s high school and college students are watching the “United States House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack” hearings. Former members of the judicial branch of government gave testimony and explained why they could not be part of President Donald Trump’s attempts to find a way to convince the country that he, not Joe Biden, was elected President.

Those members of the Judiciary were appointed by Trump, but they were not there to investigate election corruption that does not exist. The Judiciary and the FBI are there for our country and always will be.

Shirley Baechtold, Richmond